Jon Worthington’s side worked heavily on attacking phases of play
- Huddersfield Town’s Under-18s took on Burton Albion
- Young Terriers worked on chance creation
- Comments from Coach Jon Worthington
Huddersfield Town’s youngsters continued their development as they faced Burton Albion in the latest U18 Youth Alliance League fixture.
Jon Worthington’s side, which was made up of Under-17 and Under-18 players, had worked on chance creation and attacking phases of play in training and were tasked with bringing that into the game.
The youngsters grew into the match and completed a second half turnaround, running out 3-1 victors with a fine display of the attacking movements they had been covering in training.
Town’s U17 Coach Jon Worthington explained how his players adapt and learnt during the game.
“Obviously the result is really pleasing, but the focus for me was on the ‘create’ phase (of attacking),” said Worthy.
“We showed a great reaction again to going a goal down. I thought we were a bit lacklustre for the first 20 minutes, but then from then on I thought all the play was really positive.
“I was always confident we could play through their press. When they are pressing high you’ve just got to have a bit more confidence and belief. You’ve got to play a little bit quicker and once they started doing that Burton had to drop off and that allowed us to dominate the game.”
Once in their opponent’s half they could showcase the creativity in the final third they had been developing before today’s fixture.
After the restart the Under-18s’ intensity and perseverance to retain possession won them a penalty, which they scored, before grabbing two more goals from open play, which was all that Worthy could have asked for in the second half.
“At half-time I just asked them to play with more tempo, increase the ball speed, move quicker and have more movement to move Burton around, and once they did that I thought we were really dominant.
“The creation is when you’re on the ball, but when you lose it you have to win it back as quick as soon as you can in high areas. Players will make mistakes, that’s fine.
“The Under-17s are a development group, so as long as they show positive reactions to winning it back then that’s the most important thing.”
Another important trait that the Young Terriers showed was their leadership on the field, especially Ben Midgley, who after Josh Austerfield’s performance on Saturday, also scored twice whilst wearing the Captain’s armband.
“The armband's the armband, some players like to have it. It’s really important that they all learn to be leaders and communicators. Those are the characteristics they’ve got to have if they want to become professional footballers,” said Worthington. “I thought Josh did excellently on Saturday, and again Ben was excellent today too. He’s one of a number of players who individually should be pleased with their performance today.”
Town saw the match out with their two goal advantage, maintaining the quick pressing and tempo they had set throughout most of the fixture to cap off a positive step forwards for the summer recruits.
Up next for the Under-17s is the visit of Mansfield Town in the Youth Alliance League on Saturday at PPG Canalside, so they will have three days to work on what they have done well against Burton Albion and Accrington Stanley.
“We’ll review the Accrington match and this game, especially around the create phase.
“We’ll show good examples, because there’s been loads in the last two games and try to take those positives into the next match.”
Town’s U18s vs Burton Albion (4-3-3)
Michael Roxburgh; Luke Billam, Nassim Kherbouche, Mustapha Olagunju, Taylor Annakin; Ernaldo Krasniqi, Ben Midgeley ©, Tom Bell; Luke Daley, Robson Shipley, Darnel Baxter-Alleyne
Substitutes
Myles Bright, Giosue Bellagambi, Andre Edionhon, Josh Okpolokpo
Final score
Huddersfield Town Under-18s 3-1 Burton Albion Under-18s
Scorers
Ben Midgley 53’, 75’; Darnel Baxter-Alleyne 60’
