Bristol City Academy chief John Clayton admits his side have been handed a tough draw in the FA Youth Cup third round.

The Robins' Under-18 side will travel to Selhurst Park to play Crystal Palace on Wednesday, December 9.

There has been no love lost between City and the Eagles at senior level in recent years, but Clayton's boys are relishing their trip to south-east London.

The former Derby, Plymouth and Fortuna Sitard striker said: "This is always an exciting time of year when the third round draw comes out,

"Palace have come out and it is a good draw for us, firstly because it is a really good ground for the lads to play on, and they always look forward to playing on the main grounds, and also because we have had 11 or 12 league games now and it is always good to have something different. The FA Youth Cup is really the highlight of their season."

Selhurst Park is renowned as a less-than-pleasant venue for visiting teams, but, as a club, Palace are, like City, a production line for young talent.

"They have always had good youth teams," added Clayton. "Just recently, you think of people they have produced like Victor Moses, Sean Scannell, Lee Hills and John Bostock, who is now at Spurs. It will be a really tough draw for us."

Bristol City have impressed in the FA Youth Cup in recent seasons and the latest squad will also have their sights set on significant progress.

Clayton said: "Last season was a bit disappointing, because we lost to Queens Park Rangers, but the year before we went to Arsenal and lost on penalties. Before that, we lost to Man City, who went on to win it, and beat Everton at Goodison, so we have had some great runs."

As with most youth coaches, Clayton is reluctant to pick out individuals, but he admits he has been impressed by Wales youth international defender Aaron Holloway, who is highly-rated on both sides of the Severn Bridge.

"Aaron has done very well and recently won one of the top Welsh awards, while Danny Ball has been playing a lot for the reserves along with Daryn Hennessy."

The Under-18s are fifth in FA Premier Academy League Group B, having won six and lost five of their 11matches this season, despite the recent absence of last season's 10-goal striker Joe Lennox with a broken bone in a foot.

Their highlights have included a 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday and a 5-0 away hammering of Portsmouth.