With pre-season under your belt , how are things going on the youth front?

Its been OK, we've been up and down, had some very good aspects of play, some areas highlighted that we need to work on so over all its been very good. Last Saturday we played Hereford at home and the performance first half, was absolutely superb and was probably the highlight of pre season in the way that the lads played, in the way that they performed, the way they moved the ball, they did very well. But you get peaks and troughs, and when their performance dip, they need to make sure that they stick together and drag each other through it. But certainly, if last Saturday is anything to go by, I was very, very pleased. You could see the confidence in the players, so I am hoping, and we have tried to brush on that and polish it a little further this week, and we can go into the game tomorrow confident of performing and moving the ball around very well again.

We've played some very strong sides, Crewe , Cardiff and Coventry in particular are all very strong and in spells we have done very well, Cardiff in particular, we performed well for the duration of the game, for 45 minutes against Crewe we did very well. I would probably say we played a game over at Keele on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and went to Coventry on the Saturday and didn't perform as well as we're capable of doing, but a little bit of fatigue. But again, credit to the players and it was a good lesson to them to see the levels that Coventry were performing at, and the quality that they had was almost a benchmark for our guys, to say can we achieve that? can we get to that level? Can we move the ball like they did? So it was a really good guideline and I would probably say that the last game against Hereford, we moved the ball as well against Hereford, as Coventry did against us. So it has been really good.

In between we went to Shawbury which was a really good workout, a mix of the young pro's and the scholars, so again, it's good for the younger guys, for the first years that have come in now withus to play with your Harry's, Connor, Danny , John, Hakan. To see that standard that's required, to see the heights that they have got to achieve to try and push on. So it's been a good learning curve,trying to educate them the right way, trying to get the ball down, trying to move it and trying to make sure that it becomes a regular theme in their play that they are comfortable doing it, they do understand what is expected of them individually and collectively, and hopefully then, that becomes a pattern over weeks and moths and over the course of the season.

There are a couple who have come in and taken to it very well, there are a couple who have come in and found the transition between under 16 to full time, maybe more demanding, but over all I have been really pleased with the way they have started.

So it can be a difficult transition at that age?

Yes, if you look at last year, there was only one or 2 first years in the side, there is 9 or 10 second years who are 17 going on 18 who have been in the programme and know the physical demands, know the intensity of it. This year we have had 6 or 7 sixteen year olds in the side so it's been a learning curve for them. But they have acquitted themselves well, we're aware that they are going to make mistakes, that's all part of their learning. If they make a mistake, that's down to us to diagnose the reason why, and try to ensure that that mistake doesn't appear again, but again they have done well, I am pleased with certain aspects of their play, but again they are all aware that they have a vast amount to get to the level that is required.

What are your hopes inthe season to come for the youth players?

It's about the learning, the league table is somewhat irrelevant, some people will look at the table last season and sat that the youth team were second and third, that's pleasing for the players but it's no guideline for us, what we focus on is maybe 2,3,4,5 different individuals in the group who are performing consistently, getting in the right areas, playing in the right way, looking to do the right things and show the right attitude, and week by week, we're adding aspects to their game, and they are improving. In the longer term, for the first years its 2 years, they have got 18 months now, to try and ensure they get to the level where they have made an impression, in the hope that they can gain a contract and push on. For the second years, we know about them from last year, they have still got things to improve on, but I would like to think that the vast majority of the work was done last year. Again its fine tuning, so it's going to be interesting, I have no doubt that they will pass the ball, and there will be times that they will over play, perhaps cause themselves problems , but I would rather that than see them lumping it down the bottom of the pitch and chasing it. They have got to play, I think it's evident in the 2 games that we have played here now from the first team, and we are no different, we want to mirror that. We want to be exactly the same, we want players in the youth team that are comfortable on the ball, looking to play on the front foot, and showing that they can express themselves with the ability that they have got. If they can do that, then we hope they have a chance.

How are things going with centre of excellence and the newer coaches from last year, are they settling in well?

The centre of excellence it a huge part of the job, and the youth department, the teams that are running, we're constantly trying to improve. We are trying to put more hours into the younger guys than ever before, to ensure that when they do reach 16, there is perhaps less to do with them, the technical work, the understanding of their roles and their positions is already embedded, and they are comfortable with that, so that maybe when they do progress to the scholarship programme, it's polishing, and trying to ensure that they can do that. And now it's just a case of trying to get them to the next level, physically they are improving. So I am really pleased with the work that Wayne Evans has put in, in the centre of excellence he has made significant progress in the last 9 months. We are still some way away from where we want to be, we said it last year, we want to try and be the best centre of excellence. We made strides last year, we've still got a long way to go, maybe it will take 2 or 3 years but I am certainly confident that in those years we will get there. The players have improved, the coaches have improved , what they are delivering, they have got more guidelines on what we want and what we want them to deliver to try and ensure the players are all playing exactly the same way. It's progress, we just need to make sure that it happens over the next couple of years, in the same light as it has done over the last nine months.