BLACKBURN Rovers U21s boss Eric Kinder insists his young side will ‘give it a right good go’ in tonight’s U21 Premier League Cup semi-final against holders Reading at Leigh Sports Village (7pm), writes DANIEL BRIGGS.

Rovers set up the last four clash with an impressive 1-0 victory over Newcastle United at St James’ Park last month.

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And although they have struggled in the league of late, losing their last five matches, including 1-0 to Middlesbrough on Monday, Kinder is relishing the prospect of hosting last year’s winners.

He said: “It doesn’t matter what level of football you play at – whether it’s first team, U21s, or just park football, if you get to a semi-final it’s an exciting occasion.

“When you get to this stage you’ve got to try to win it.

“It’ll be a young team that plays against a good Reading side.

“In the last couple of rounds we’ve had the likes of John O’Sullivan, Jack O’Connell and Jordan Slew – more experienced players – but they’re no longer with us, so we’ll be back to a very young side.

“About half of our players didn’t even know we were in a semi-final because they hadn’t been involved with the U21s until recently.

“But they know about it now and I’ve stressed the importance of the match to them.”

Rovers were beaten 1-0 by Reading in September’s league encounter between the teams but Kinder doesn’t believe that result will have any bearing on tonight’s outcome.

He said: “There wasn’t much between the sides when we played them at Ewood.

“They beat us 1-0 but it could have been a different story had we taken our chances.

“We are a different side now to the one we were then.

“One thing I can guarantee is that we’ll give it a right good go, and if Reading are more experienced, bigger and stronger than we are then so be it.

“But we’ll try our very best to get through to the final.”