ACADEMY chief Bobby Downes believes Rovers will have to do it the hard way if they want to lift the AXA FA Youth Cup.

Rovers' young guns marched into the quarter finals on Tuesday night thanks to a magnificent 2-0 victory over current holders Arsenal at Highbury.

But the draw for the last eight has now thrown up another equally testing tie in the capital at Tottenham -- 1-0 conquerors over Leeds on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, Spurs are a decent team and it's going to be tough going down there in the quarter final," said Downes.

"I saw them on Wednesday night at Elland Road and they looked a big, strong, physical side.

"From a technical point of view, they're probably not as good as Arsenal were.

"But we spoke to Don Howe and Liam Brady after Tuesday night's game and they both said Spurs feel they've got a good side this season.

"So it's going to be a different kind of test to the one we faced in the last round.

"But, once you get through to the last eight of a competition like this, then you know you're going to come up against some good sides.

"So if we want to lift the Cup, then we'll have to do it the hard way."

Rovers threw the gauntlet down to the rest of the quarter finalists, however, by upsetting the formbook at Highbury.

And Downes admits that result has given the whole Academy a boost this week.

"When you get a result like that it does give everyone a lift and I'm sure the lads will have grown in confidence as a result," said Downes.

"We had a meeting about it the following day and it was nice to be able to talk positively about our performance.

"But the thing with kids is you don't know what you're going to get from one game to the next, which is why you see some shocks in this competition.

"Hartlepool took Manchester United to extra-time, for instance, at Old Trafford earlier in the week so things are rarely straight forward."

Downes was hoping to give some of his stars a rest at Coventry today as the club's two Academy teams began a run of three games in the space of a week.