Backroom Boys is the feature on Wolves' official website which looks at life behind the scenes at Molineux. In the latest edition we hear again from the club's Head of Medical Department Steve Kemp.  Steve describes some of the work being carried out at Academy level to ensure the club's youngest players are well looked after as they embark on their hopeful careers.

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One of the key factors to the work we carry out as a medical department is the close connection between the First Team and Academy at the Compton Training Ground.

Infact we run the department on the basis whereby the Academy physiotherapists also work with the first team on a daily basis so that we can all share ideas and best practice wherever possible.

We believe it is important to have a complete medical programme in place from senior level right through to the schoolboys to ensure consistency of treatment for our players whatever their age.

And that is why myself and the rest of the medical and fitness team work extremely closely with Head Academy Physiotherapist Phil Hayward, pictured, and Assistant Academy Physiotherapist Jazz Sodhi (pictured further below).

As I have said a lot of our medical provision is now intertwined with both Phil and Jazz helping out with the first team when required, but Phil also has direct responsibility for our full time scholars between the ages of 16 and 18 and Jazz for the schoolboys from nine to 16.

We have now started work on developing some of the work done within the Academy to mirror that of the first team and ensure the players who graduate through to the senior ranks are well versed in the techniques and methods designed to maintain optimum fitness and avoidance of injury.

So for maybe two or three times a week the full time scholars will carry out the core and strength exercises followed by the first team which is part of the 'Prehab' programme in place to try and reduce the possibility of injury.

This means carrying out Functional Movement Screening exercises to improve the players' movement patterns.

The FMS programme is designed to address and hopefully correct any weaknesses and imbalances which may in the future lead to injury.

For the first team players, it's an ongoing process to try to keep their fitness and movement levels in prime condition but for the Academy youngsters it's about spotting potential problems early and nipping them in the bud.

The programme of core, proprioception and neuromuscular control has already been developed with the full time scholars and will also be passed down in time to the under-16s, 15s and hopefully 14s as well.

Our Sports Scientist John Iga has carried out extensive research which indicates that the ages of 13 and 14 are more usually when the major growth spurts take place and thus when the young players are more likely to pick up injury.

With that in mind, if you catch any problems early and correct any movement dysfunction at that stage, the players have more chance of progressing without any further problems later on which might be more difficult to put right.

There is also other work which can be carried out relating to the skeletal growth of the players - for example some 12-year-olds may have the skeletal structure of a 14-year-old and others of a 10-year-old.

From this data potential growth spurts can be identified which again means we can take preventative action via stretching and other exercises to try and prevent injury and hopefully help prepare the player for their future years in the game.

In practical terms, under Phil and Jazz's guidance there are regular injury clinics held at the Compton Training Ground to treat the Academy scholars and schoolboys, usually six days a week.

We have all the facilities here so the youngsters can come in during the evenings and do their rehab in the gym or be treated in the medical room in much the same way as a first team player has been during the day.

The Academy physios also take a functional rehab clinic working with the ball at the Aldersley Dome once a week, as well as a school release programme for under-16s and under-14s to come in to Compton for core and strength work on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

The beauty of running what is effectively a joint medical department between first team and Academy is that ideas can be shared and exchanged and we can do our very best to ensure the highest standards of medical provision are followed throughout the whole club.