3 April 2008
VIDEO: Final first leg - Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City

Watch the highlights from a thrilling game at Chelsea where Gael Kakuta's towering header cancelled out Daniel Sturridge's opener.

Manchester City v Chelsea
The FA Youth Cup Sponsored by E.ON
Final, First Leg 
7.45pm, Wednesday 16 April 2008
City Of Manchester Stadium, Manchester City FC
Live on Sky Sports 

Manchester City skipper Ben Mee is fast approaching his tenth year with the Blues’ Academy and is hoping to cap off that personal milestone by helping City beat Chelsea to lift The FA Youth Cup on Wednesday evening.

With the tie finely poised at 1-1 following the first leg at Stamford Bridge earlier this month, it promises to be an entertaining clash and with over 20,000 fans expected at the City Of Manchester Stadium there should be a decent atmosphere too.

Along with several other members of the City squad for the second leg of The Final, Mee is a local lad and a City supporter and he believes that the team spirit within the camp could prove to be a major help.

“It makes a difference to us, as we all know each other really well and we’re all good friends too,” revealed Mee ahead of the game.

“There is a great team spirit and we all get along really well and I think that’s been a big part of our success in the competition so far.

“We’ve been brought up by City to stick together on the pitch and we stick together off the pitch too so it’s fantastic.”

City know that they will have to be wary of the threat offered by Chelsea though, with the Londoners showing their spirit to get a draw in the first leg after Daniel Sturridge’s goal had put the visitors ahead.

The impressive Gael Kakuta rose highest to head home a corner, but Paul Clement’s team also offer a stern threat on the ground through the French winger and team-mates such as Adam Phillip, Miroslav Stoch, Morten Nielsen and Sergio Tejera Rodriguez.

“They have a lot of quick players up front, a bit like us and the teams are very similar,” he added.

“We’ve got to deal with it. We’ve watched a few videos of them and I think we did alright in the first leg.

“You can’t not look at the Cup, or dream of winning it but we haven’t won anything yet and we’ve got to keep focused.”