text: Manchester City Under 18s boss Jason Wilcox, whose side take on Chelsea in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup Final on Monday, is aiming to emulate United's famous Class of '92. Wilcox, himself let go by his current employers as a teenager, could field a starting XI of players all born in Greater Manchester for the clash against the favoured opponents from west London. And, while it may be unlikely anyone will emulate a golden generation across town that yielded the likes of the Neville brothers, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, the ex-Blackburn winger believes that is the target. Manchester City Under 18s manager Jason Wilcox wants to deliver local players to the first team . Wilcox talks with Manchester City elite development squad coach Patrick Vieira . 'It could happen again but they were freak years,' Wilcox said. 'You look at United as a one-off, Barcelona the same. 'Our job is to recruit local lads. If we can get a group of Manchester-born lads into the first team then that's the ideal scenario. To do that is going to be really difficult but that's the challenge.' The first leg will take place under lights at the impressive, newly-opened 7,200-capacity stadium within the grounds of the £200m Etihad Campus, a sprawling complex aimed at kickstarting a conveyor belt of homegrown talent and defying those who claim the club have no interest nurturing growth from within. Wilcox believes those facilities, coupled with elite coaching, stand City in good stead when it comes to recruiting talent. Wilcox hopes to emulate Manchester United's 'Class of 92' but says it will be very difficult . 'We don't want local lads playing for Tottenham, Arsenal or Chelsea,' he said. 'It's up to us to make sure that, via the scouting, we have at least the opportunity of showing them our programme. I'm convinced once they see us it's very difficult to walk away from.' Will the final, between two clubs often criticised for spending millions of foreign players, be a chance to stick two fingers up to Football Association chairman Greg Dyke, who a year ago described the lack of English talent at Manchester City as 'pretty depressing'? Wilcox does not want to get into that. 'There’s a lot of media attention from Greg Dyke with regards to increasing the home-grown quota,' he said. Wilcox believes City's new Etihad campus will stand club in good stead when it comes to recruiting youngsters . A look inside one of the gyms at Manchester City's training complex . 'We can’t get embroiled in that because, for us, it’s a day-to-day question of how do we improve players? 'Proposals have already been put forward with regards to home-grown quotas. If he (Dyke) wants to increase it, then that is up to him. But whether you increase or lower the numbers, it doesn’t change the fact that you have to be good enough to get through.' Wilcox knows all about being good enough to get through at a club where money is no object. The Bolton youngster, who joined Blackburn at 14, was the only youth product to regularly appear in their Jack Walker-fuelled Premier League triumph in 1995. 'When I was a young player at Blackburn Jack Walker came in and brought Kenny (Dalglish),' he said. Manchester City's Isaac Buckley Ricketts (left) celebrates scoring during the semi-final against Leicester . 'You go two ways. Do I go elsewhere and take my chances or have I got stomach for fight and see what happens? Luckily for me I was the only homegrown player which was a great privilege. Now I'm passing my experience to younger ones.' Wilcox's arrival at Ewood Park came after rejection at none other than City. He remembers it well. 'I’d joined City at 13 and got released at 14,' he recalled. 'It’s quite fitting really because when I’m speaking to younger players I can always recall that chat if you like. I think at that time it was a case of I just got told that they were not going to retain me on a year’s contract. 'It was devastating at the time. Everything was going really well. But to be told that it is tough for a young kid. But I just recall my own experience whenever I have to tell the lads and have the younger age groups. You have to go through some period in your life like that where not everything is going to go fantastically well.' Wilcox was one of the only graduate players to feature regularly for Blackburn during title-winning season . City manager Manuel Pellegrini will be at the Etihad Campus, as will England Under 21s chief Gareth Southgate. Things have not gone according to plan for the Chilean's first team this season, but does Wilcox believe their struggles have increased the pressure on his youngsters to deliver the club's only silverware this season? 'Not really,' he said. 'At the start of the year, irrespective of what was happening at first-team level, the FA Youth Cup was a chance for our players to be put in a situation where they are being put under a bit of pressure and I think it’s great that they are being put under a bit of pressure.' Aided by Wilcox's wise head, they appear to be thriving under it.
target: Manchester City and Chelsea meet in the first leg of the final on Monday .
  Former Blackburn winger Jason Wilcox is manager of the City youth team .
  The 43-year-old says his aim is to get local players into the City first team .
  Wilcox has backed the new facilities at the Etihad campus deliver that aim .