Tony Philliskirk is relishing his side's chance to pit their wits against Academy opposition in the Third Round of the FA Youth Cup.

Sheffield United will visit Boundary Park on December 10 as Athletic's youngsters look to pull off a shock and advance into the Fourth Round.

They set up a tie with the Blades courtesy of a comprehensive 4-1 win over Lincoln City, with Liam Dawson, Ryan Brooke and Djeny Bembo-Leta on the scoresheet and a late own goal rounding things off.

"You've got to be reasonably happy when you win any game 4-1," Philliskirk told Latics World.

"The first half was very frenetic and we could have done better, but we had a little chat at half time and changed one or two things around.

"The second half was very good; we moved the ball a lot better, retained possession a lot better and ran out comfortable winners in the end."

The Blades have one of the bigger Academies in professional football, and are highly-rated by Philliskirk.

The youth team boss revealed he is "delighted" his side secured a Third Round berth, and the youngsters will be giving it their all in an attempt to pull off a shock.

"Sheffield United are a very good team who always do well at Academy level.  They have some very good players coming through the system and I've heard they're very strong this year.

"Deep down I'm just pleased we got to the Third Round -- we've had really strong teams in the past but have never really done well in the cup competitions.

"Now the lads have the chance to pit themselves against supposedly better Academy players -- not that I'm saying they're better than our players.

"I don't expect anything, but we'll prepare, train and work hard leading up to the game.

"I just hope the lads can continue to give a good account of themselves; I think they've done that in their games on the main pitch this season and I'm very proud of them."

Tony Philliskirk was talking to Stu Vose on Latics World -- the club's exclusive online TV service. Click here to find out more about signing up.