HEAD of youth Steve Wigley has backed Saints Under-18s to win the club's first FA Youth Cup at Ipswich Town on Friday.

Strike pair David McGoldrick and Leon Best scored a goal in each half as Saints drew the first leg 2-2 in front of a 9,902 St Mary's crowd last night.

Now the club are set for the return leg at Portman Road (kick off 7.45pm) in three days' time, when away goals will not come into the equation if the scores are level after 90 minutes.

Wigley said: "Everyone's put us down as favourites because of what we've done, and we certainly won't be treating ourselves as underdogs on Friday.

"The players know there'll be no second chance - they've come a long way and there's one final hurdle.

"There's now an onus on both teams to get themselves back in the best shape for Friday, because it's going to be high tempo with a lot of passing and a lot of hard work, and we've got to make sure we're prepared.

"Hopefully, it'll just be another 90 minutes at Portman Road but we'll go there believing that we can win it."

Saints led at half-time last night through McGoldrick's 45th minute penalty, but Irish midfielder Cathal Lordan struck twice in 11 second half minutes to put Ipswich 2-1 up - and then Best netted his sixth goal in seven FA Youth Cup games.

Wigley added: "It was bound to be a good advert for youth football and those who saw it will have enjoyed it.

"Thankfully, we've got a lot of personality and a lot of character in this team, as we showed by coming back, and I felt we could have just nicked it.

"With a bit more care in the last 15 minutes, we could have got away.

"There were one or two who had nervy starts but that's understandable. There was a big crowd, it's the final of a major competition and it was on Sky TV, but they settled down and they all handled it well."

Ipswich played with a five-man midfield with England under-17s star Darryl Knights the lone striker.

Wigley added: "Our two midfield players had to work very hard as they moved the ball about and showed they have ability. The boy up front isn't the biggest but he was a credit to himself and Ipswich for the way he worked the line on his own.

"But we know they have good players - they wouldn't have got this far and beaten the teams they've done otherwise, and we know we'll have to be a little bit better defensively on the counter attack on Friday."

Wigley acknowledged that Theo Walcott, the youngest Saints player at 16 years and 33 days, looked as threatening as he has ever done in the under 18s' FA Youth Cup run.

"We took him off in the semi-final at Wolves last Wednesday as a precaution as he got cramp in both legs.

"We had to do that in case he pulled something, which would have ruled him out for the rest of the season.

"But he was as fresh and as lively as anyone at the end. Attention always gets drawn to Theo but he shows a maturity that, when added to blistering pace, always causes problems."