Following a break of almost three months Arsenal U21s will finally return to action tomorrow night when they contest their annual pre-season friendly against Boreham Wood at Meadow Park.
There have been changes during the summer, most notably in the dugout with coach Max Porter having joined Stoke while David Horseman, who was already at the club, remains the favourite to succeed him, at least on an interim basis.
In terms of players, however, much of the core group remains the same. Some youngsters were released at the end of last season and others like Josh Ogunnaike and Alex Marciniak have yet to accept the club’s offer of a professional contract.
Many members of those who have stayed, though, already possess a vast amount of experience of playing at U21 level having been regulars last season.
Ife Ibrahim, for instance, featured prominently at the base of the midfield last campaign while Andre Harriman-Annous demonstrated that he is capable of making an impact whether deployed as a striker or a winger.
With the first-team’s pre-season preparations starting a little later than usual it seems likely that the U21s will have the majority of their key players available for their first friendly.
Eventually, though, some of the most highly rated prospects will be eager to feature in pre-season for a first-team setup that is set to be heavily affected by the involvement of many players at the World Cup this summer.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird