(Manchester United News)
Manchester United's Under-21s are in Old Trafford action tonight (Tuesday), with free entry for all supporters when Tottenham provide the opposition.
Warren Joyce's side have not played at the Theatre of Dreams since the stunning 4-0 win over Sunderland in mid-September and the chance to play in the famous stadium should bring out the best in his players.
Despite only one win in five games in all competitions, United and Spurs are both well placed in the Barclays Under-21 Premier League table, so it's a key clash and the club will be out for revenge after Paul McGuinness' Under-18s were knocked out of the FA Youth Cup by the north Londoners at White Hart Lane.
Tom Thorpe's injury-time header decided the corresponding fixture and he is likely to skipper the side as usual. After a reshuffled team were bundled out of the Manchester Senior Cup by Bolton Wanderers last time out, Joyce will be looking for a response in front of what hopefully will be a sizeable crowd.
"I don't think you could fault the effort and endeavour [against Bolton]," Joyce told MUTV. "But there was a lack of quality at times in and around the box. There were one or two really good individual displays but it was disappointing to go out of a cup tournament. It was a learning game for us and we talked in the dressing room about the desire to be footballers so this was a good lesson for some of the boys."
Joe Rothwell has returned from his loan spell at Blackpool and will add his craft to the midfield. "He's not played many games and you can quite easily lose what fitness you go out with," added Joyce. "He only had one full game [with Blackpool] so it was important for him to get back into the rhythm with 90 minutes."
