In light of the unexpected and unfortunate absence of normal daddy, the kids of Lilywhite's field trip to scary Russia this afternoon will be under the strict supervision of adoptive parents, Bond and Jordan. Or as I shall now call them, weekday daddy. One would imagine there'll be little p*ssing about with these two in charge.

The most startling stat surrounding the 1st leg of this FA Youth Cup final is that more than 29,977 expectant fans turned up to watch the match. The attendance is even more startling given that it's Sheffield United's highest gate of the season (yes, including all competitions at all levels) beating the previous highest by fully 6,000 (cue the chant "Come to see United, you've only come to see United.

It's here, and it's not going unnoticed despite being surrounded by other events and achievements gained by the club's more illustrious and decorated first team squad. There's a certain hype about this year's FA Youth Cup final, nothing emphasised this more than the 24,000 tickets that had already been sold by Wednesday last week, Bramall Lane holds just shy of 33,000.