Both Under-17s and Under-19s were in pre-season action
- Young Terriers benefitting from early pre-season games
- Jon Worthington discusses Town’s new scholars
- Danny Schofield giving youngsters new tests
Huddersfield Town’s Under-19 and Under-17 players have been benefitting greatly from their early pre-season friendlies.
The youngsters, who went for a prolonged period without football due to COVID-19, have been working hard on their fitness and have been playing friendly games to re-gain their sharpness.
After firstly playing Brighouse Town, Danny Schofield led the Under-19s against Golcar United.
Kian Harratt scored a hat-trick for the Young Terriers before players were played in different positions to work on different elements of their game and to give them a greater game understanding.
“Whenever you’re playing games early on in the season, you are trying to hit those physical ideas, whilst mirroring the First Team ideas on how they play football and their concepts,” said Danny Schofield.
“My role as a coach, and what I believe in, is that players need to be exposed to playing in different positions.
“Even First Team players need to be able to adapt and play in different positions. I think giving young players that exposure is important as it shows the different demands in the game.”
Jon Worthington also led a young Town side, which consisted of Under-19 and Under-17 players.
The youngsters faced Blackburn Rovers, in what was a first game in Town colours for some of the first-year scholars who joined in the summer.
Like the Under-19s, the main focus was on the fitness side of things. Worthy detailed how the youngsters got on.
“It was another good test against a good Blackburn team. The lads went toe-to-toe with them for the first 60 minutes of the game and applied themselves really well. At the minute the importance is around fitness. We are building on that currently.
“The U17s did great; they’ve made a good impression on me since they’ve come into the building. We’ve got some good characters and they’re wanting to learn and absorb information.
“The main focus is the fitness side of it. Our current coaching block is around our identity, philosophies and what’s expected from them in terms of intensity; that actually links in nicely with the fitness element.”
A benefit for the new recruits is that they can learn a lot from the Under-19s. Town’s U17 Coach explained how valuable that could be for the youngsters.
“There’s fluidity between our groups and that’s what it’s all about; it’s about the older players helping the younger players.
“They’re all in a process of learning and developing as footballers.”
The Under-19s' game against Bradford (PA) on Saturday 22 August 2020 has now been cancelled.
