Joseph Olowu is uniquely positioned to talk about the Papa John’s Trophy having competed in the competition for Arsenal U21s in the 2019/20 season.
The centre back believes the young Manchester City side will be looking forward to this game and will be using it as a chance to show what they can do.
On being an Academy team in the competition:
“It’s exciting as a young player.
"These are the games you look forward to. You have the little derbies in the league, but these games are great.
“This is what you’re aiming for in those Academies. You want to play men’s football so it’s almost a chance for you to compare – so for City, they’ll want to see how they compare against us.
“It’s an opportunity for young players to impress.”
On what he expects from Man City:
“You see how the first team play, that will filter down through the U23s, the U18s as far down as the U9s.
“They will like to get on the ball and play but if we can put our mark on the game, then they might find that difficult to handle."
On settling in at Rovers:
“It’s a great bunch of boys and I’ve just tried to come in and integrate myself into the squad. It’s going well and I’m really enjoying it.
“Skips come back in and it’s been nice to have him alongside because that’s another voice along with Ro-Shaun. When we have little sessions, having each other there is important. We’re learning off each other and understanding how one another play.”
On the atmosphere at training:
“There’s nothing better than coming in on a Monday morning when you’ve won.
“It sets the week up nicely and it’s something to build on.
“We feel like we’re not really playing at our best yet, so we need to kick on now.
“It’s all about momentum and three points is three points.”