CITY'S bid to become only the third team in 30 years to retain the FA Youth Cup is set to be a drawn-out affair.

The current batch of boy Blues may have to wait up to five weeks to conclude their two-legged semi-final with Arsenal.

And Academy chief Jim Cassell reckons some of his charges may have to be even more patient for their big breakthrough now that the Blues have wealth at their disposal.

Eastlands hosts the first game against Arsenal on Wednesday night (7pm) but because of the Gunners' commitments abroad in the coming weeks and the availability of the Emirates Stadium, the return leg is likely to be in the third week of April!

At least City are still unbeaten ahead of their bid to emulate double winners Arsenal (2000-01) and Liverpool (2006-07) following a hard-fought 3-2 win over West Brom at the weekend.

That victory stretched their record to 25 games without a loss and they have scored in every one of those contests.

Arsenal, who despatched their neighbours Spurs in the quarter-finals, will, according to Cassell, be their sternest test of the season so far.

"It is a great position for us to be in," ventured Cassell. "If you win the cup one year and then reach the semi-finals the next, then that is a pretty good defence in my book. Obviously, we are greedy because we want to win it again but that is the nature of the game.

"I have seen Arsenal and they are a very good side. But if we perform to our best, then we have a great chance. We will see but often, even over two legs, it comes down to the rub of the green.

Tradition

"The Gunners have a fantastic tradition of bringing players through. Arsenal as a club in recent years from first team downwards have been ahead of us and recently we have regained a lot of ground at our level but their recruitment network has been outstanding and the way they play the game is how it should be played.

"Win, lose or draw I am looking forward to competing against them. Without being disrespectful to any other teams they probably represent our sternest test so far.

"They are a fantastic club who have been much maligned over the issue of foreign players; they do an awful lot of good work with English players and you only have to look at the national sides at youth level to realise that.

"Liam Brady and his staff have done a fantastic job. I know him well he is a friend as well as a rival in the next few weeks. We know how hard the task will be and that we will have to be at our best but we are capable of beating them.

"We haven't won a home leg in three semi-final attempts so far so it has not been a great advantage to us. People perceive it to be more of an advantage than perhaps it is in reality. We will take them as two one off games and approach them separately whether we go to London behind or in front.

"The new owners' hopes are similar to ours. They have looked closely at the club before they bought it and were impressed by what they saw at youth level. The chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak is extremely enthusiastic about the youth set-up. He has indicated to me that he wants us to use the platform we have now to be even better if we can."

The arrival of world stars such as Robinho and an influx of top internationals from all over the planet may make it harder for the kids to break through but Cassell insists that they should be invigorated by the challenge.

Excited

"They get excited and not discouraged by the sight of world-class players and internationals coming into City and so they should," he declared. "If I was a young boy now I would be totally excited by the thought of training and playing alongside such star names and thinking about who might come and join the club in future. They should be straining to join that elite group because that is what we are all about, performing at the very highest level.

"There is always pressure and none greater in this sport than the pressure you put on yourself. We are demanding of ourselves because we have set a standard now in producing players. We think that there are players in this current team who will join the manager's squad at Carrington sooner rather than later.

"It is true that the money that has come into the club will help us but only if the structure is right and we spend it correctly. There have been no big changes made yet to the way we do things and though we are looking at different ways of improving there is also a bit of a feeling of `if it ain't broke don't fix it'.

"No-one at the club should be pressured just because there is more financial resource available to us. We have to keep our sensible heads on. Most of our recruitment is done locally and the dream is to have local lads playing for City in the City of Manchester Stadium.

"We are never going to lose sight of that and we have actually increased our local recruitment team. We have to accept that we can now look further afield and we will combine the two.

"We always said to them, irrespective of the situation at the club `do you believe you can play at the top level?' They always say yes and I believe we have players in last year's winning side and this year's who can make the step up to Premier League level.

"What might happen from now on, because the manager has a bigger squad from which to choose, is that they will not get blooded as early on in their careers. But I am certain some will still break through if they continue with a normal progression. Daniel Sturridge has already done that and Vladimir Weiss has been on the bench on several occasions."

ADMISSION to the first leg of the FA Youth Cup semi-final is £4 when booked in advance (£5 on the night). Concessions are £2.

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