Under-18s Lead Coach David Oldfield has spoken about the academy’s pre-season schedule, as well as upcoming Youth Alliance season which is due to kick off this weekend.
It has been an important summer for the young group, who have faced various levels of opposition over pre-season in preparation for their league campaign, which begins at Bromley on Saturday afternoon.
“The boys finished well at the end of last season and had some deserved time off, but they have had an extensive programme over the summer for fitness,” Oldfield said.
“And pre-season has gone really well, and the boys have worked hard. It was fairly straightforward for and hasn’t been extremely hard as we were conscious of a slow improvement on our fitness. It has been gradual growth and working towards matches, and now they come thick and fast.
“And some of the group have had opportunities in the first team programme, and the manager has been brilliant with them. That is one of the reason we had to keep ticking over across the summer as we knew there may be this opportunity for them, and then that allows some of the even younger player to shuffle up [an age group].
“This summer has been so so important for the academy.”
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