Youth Cup date set

West Ham United can confirm the FA Youth Cup fourth-round tie against Queen's Park Rangers will be played at the Boleyn Ground on Tuesday 19 January.

The Hammers won through to the last-32 for the first time since 2006 by beating Plymouth Argyle 1-0 after extra time earlier earlier this month. Republic of Ireland Under-17 forward Danny Purdy emerged from the substitutes' bench to fire home the vital goal after 104 minutes.

Academy director Tony Carr said the squad were excited by the prospect of a London derby in the cup to come as part of a busy start to the new year. "We are looking forward to it," he said. "We trained until Tuesday this week, then the boys went home for Christmas. They have all worked hard these last few months, and the performances and results have improved as a result of that hard work.

"They will all be back in on 2 January ahead of our next league match against Arsenal on Saturday 9 January. It would certainly be a fantastic start to 2010 if we could complete the double over the Gunners, having beaten them at home on 31 October, and then do well in the cup."

West Ham have won the FA Youth Cup three times since its inception in 1953, lifting the trophy in 1963, 1981 and 1999, when the Hammers secured a record 9-0 aggregative victory over Coventry City in the final.

QPR, who have never reached the final of the competition, reached the fourth round courtesy of a 3-1 home victory over Southampton on Tuesday 8 December.

Kick-off will be at 7pm with ticket details to follow soon on whufc.com.