Whatever happens in the two finals, the excitement at seeing the boys back in the red shirt once the season kicks off next month is already tangible. While they are still very young, it is hoped they can continue to grow in influence in Erik ten Hag’s side.
“Look, we would love that they both play and we want them to come home as winners,” said Cox. “Who knows what might happen? I think we are all intrigued and excited to see and to support them at the weekend but, regardless, they both had a really good season. They’ve enjoyed really good summers.
“I think those experiences will only add to their development and to their progression. We’re looking forward to having them back because, obviously, we want them to know how proud we are. We want to be part of the process of celebrating what they’ve achieved. But, you know, they will both arrive back looking forwards, rather than looking backwards.
“They’ve both got that quality that I think really good players have, which is ambition and drive. They don’t want to stand still but are looking forward to what they might achieve next. So it’s exciting to see how they return but, more importantly, we’re really looking forward to seeing their continued development because both of them are doing really, really well. But they’re young and have got work to do.
“It isn’t going to be plain sailing. They’re really ambitious and, if they’re going to go and achieve what they want to achieve, then there’s a lot of hard work to be done and a lot of support that they are going to need from all the staff here, in particular the first-team staff.
“For both of them, when we first them; I first met Kobbie when he would have been six or seven, Garna a little bit later as he obviously arrived here at 16. If you told either of them that they were going to have the season they have just had, they would have snapped your hands off.”
