Man United youngster Chido Obi has been included in the Under-18s' plans for their FA Youth Cup semi-final with Aston Villa.
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Chido Obi smiles as he trains at Carrington.
Chido Obi will play in the FA Youth Cup semi-final.(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images.)
Youngster Chido Obi will play no part in Manchester United's Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground tomorrow night after being included in the Under-18s' plans for their FA Youth Cup semi-final at Villa Park tonight.
United's youngsters face Aston Villa in the Midlands this evening vying for a second FA Youth Cup final appearance in four seasons. The winner of tonight's game will face either Manchester City or Watford in the final.
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Obi, who joined United from Arsenal last year, has played a key role in Adam Lawrence's side's run to the last four of the competition, scoring seven goals in just three matches. He netted a brace in the third round win over Preston North End before doing the same against Coventry City in the fourth round.
He then scored an impressive hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Chelsea at the fifth round stage.
However, the Dane was omitted from the side that beat Arsenal in the quarter-finals as he was needed for the first-team's FA Cup fifth round tie with Fulham at Old Trafford less than 48 hours later.
Despite playing his way into head coach Ruben Amorim's plans in recent weeks, the United boss has confirmed he will feature for the Under-18s against Villa, meaning he will not be available for the first-team at the City Ground 24 hours later.
"He is going to play today because we try to imagine the next game and if you look before he was on the bench and just played against Fulham, but just 10 minutes at the end of the game, and we have to manage the minutes, we have to give the minute stop the kid," said Amorim.
"So tomorrow I try to imagine the game, I imagine also it is really important for our young kids to feel the energy also of the game. It is really important for us, we are trying to win that competition, trying to build something with the youth, and the good thing with the academy players is they have that feeling of winning.
"So we are trying to to manage everything and Chido needs to play also, so we are helping the team and the player."
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