Throughout the Academy the sides tend to play in a way that matches the first-team, whether that’s in terms of formation, or in bedding new players in and providing competition for the 11 places in the squad.
“We're similar [to the first-team], not exactly the same. We've got slightly different tweaks, in terms of in possession/out possession. I think yeah every manager and coach will say the same: you have to try and find the right blend.
“We have to find what works for our group, it's taken us a bit longer this year trying to find what works for every player and play to everyone's strengths.
“We want to get the best out of every player at the moment and it’s helped us. Will we stick with that for the rest of the year? I don't know, but at the moment the lads have been focused and listening and delivering what we've asked of them.
“Like I said before, it's exciting for me as a coach, when you get young players through and now for us we’re getting the younger 15-16 year olds coming up into the squad.
“It gives us a boost and it keeps the players on their toes, which is what we're trying to teach. They're trying to go into a worldwide league, where they're competing against people from all over the world.
“So we need to replicate competition and when they step up to the 18s, they start to feel the competition and see that it’s tough - you have to perform week in week out because we've got young players coming in, who are coming in and keeping their shirt.”