Fulham under-21 goalkeeper Alex Borto is looking forward to testing himself against Athletic Bilbao B in the Premier League International Cup at Motspur Park tonight.
The young Whites will be looking to return to winning ways after they conceded a stoppage time equaliser at Aston Villa to draw 1-1 in the PL2 on Friday night having played more than seventy minutes with ten men following Jay Williams’ red card. Hayden Mullins’ men beat Feyenoord 3-1 in their first group game in the continental tournament, but Fulham are likely to face a stern test with Carlos Gurpegui’s outfit currently top of the Spanish fourth tier having lost just two matches so far this season.
Borto, who believes he has benefited from training regularly with Fulham’s first-team goalkeepers, feels that the International Cup offers a great opportunity for the club’s brightest academy talented to face the cream of the crop from across Europe. He told Fulham’s official website:
“This tournament is great for us, as it allows us to play and test ourselves against teams outside of the UK, which we don’t get to do very often. Our team preparation has been really good. Training has been very intense and competitive and the boys are ready for this challenge. We know they’ve done well in their respective league this season so we’re expecting a very tough and technical side.
“We’d love to finish the year strong with three points. All the boys have been focused and training hard so I’m very optimistic about the game. We’ve had a great start to the season and we’ve kept our standards very high every day, which allows us to perform well on a matchday. We always back ourselves going into any competition, so of course we’re going to give our all and try to win this cup.”
