Head of youth Steve Wigley has challenged his Saints kids to join the FA Youth Cup's hall of fame tonight.

Manchester United legend George Best won two league championship winner's medals and a European Cup within four years of scoring in United's 5-2 aggregate win against Swindon Town in the 1964 FA Youth Cup final.

And Paul Gascoigne made his debut for Newcastle United soon after winning the FA Youth Cup with his hometown club in 1985.

More recently, the likes of Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Joe Cole have all won the prestigious competition, which was founded in 1953.

Now Wigley wants the likes of Theo Walcott and David McGoldrick to follow in their footsteps by winning the second leg of the 2005 final against Ipswich Town at Portman Road tonight.

He said: "Teams that win the FA Youth Cup always seem to produce Premiership players, which is probably because playing at the highest level is about having a winning mentality as well as talent and this is a pressure situation for them.

"I enjoy watching the FA Youth Cup final every year. It's totally different to any other competition for players between the ages of 15-18 and the final provides the chance for the whole country to see the talent that is coming through, which is exciting.

"A few years ago I watched Wayne Rooney play in one of the earlier rounds of the FA Youth Cup for Everton at Nottingham Forest and everyone in the ground sat back in their seats and thought 'there's a player to look out for'.

"I'd already heard about him so I went along and Rooney was special on the night. After that I was always waiting for him to come through to Everton's first team further down the line and it did not take long before he did.

"I hope people at Portman Road or those who are watching on television see some of our players tonight and think the same about some of them.

"It's effectively a one-off final now and we'll find out find out things about them so I'm really looking forward to the second leg for that reason."

Goals from McGoldrick and Best - and Ipswich midfielder Cathal Lordan's second-half double - saw Saints draw the first leg 2-2 at St Mary's on Monday night.

But Wigley is after an improvement from his strikers tonight.

He added: ""I saw a video of the first leg at 1.30 am on Tuesday morning and watched it again after waking up, as did the players, who know that they can play better.

"We need to pass the ball better and we need David McGoldrick and Leon Best to be closer together as a pair."

Wigley has named left back Kyle Critchell in his squad after an X-ray showed that the Welsh under-21 international did not suffer a broken ankle in the second leg of the semi-final at Wolves nine days ago. Critchell was replaced by Sebastian Wallis-Tayler for the first leg on Monday.

Ipswich, meanwhile, have been rocked by the news that defender Michael Synnott and midfielder Owen Garvan are both injury worries.

The Irish youngsters picked up knocks in the 2-2 draw at St Mary's on Monday and are in a race against time to make the second leg.

Ipswich physio Dave Williams said: "Michael tweaked a ligament in his knee when blocking a shot and is touch and go.

"He had a cartilage operation only two months ago and with that surgery you can get inflammation for a while before the knee completely settles down."

Wigley added: "It's a travesty for any player to miss a showpiece final because of injury but we'll be concentrating on what we can do.

"At some stage there will be losers tomorrow night but there'll be a lot of talent on show from all 22 players and both sides have shown a lot of courage to get this far."

Saints (probable): McNeil, Richards, Cranie (capt), Rudd, Critchell/Wallis-Tayler, Walcott, Sparv, James, Dyer, McGoldrick, Best.