Several players from Steve Davis’ squad have been called up by their country and have travelled to join up with their national teams following Saturday’s defeat to league leaders Manchester City. Davis said the other members of the squad who are remaining at Compton will have just a few days rest during this weekend, so they are ready to go again against Everton next week.
On bouncing back from City defeat
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, but we wanted to be really positive in our play because I felt that if we sat back it would invite their quality onto us and we’d suffer more because of that.
“In our analysis we watched them play, and we decided we’d go high in the press, put them under pressure and try to keep it down one side. We were very successful doing that and limited them to very few chances. They had one in the first-half, ‘Youngy’ [Joe Young] made a great save and we had a great chance with a point-blank header which was well saved by their keeper.
“There was nothing in the game. We had some great chances to get back in the game at 2-0, the penalty was a bit harsh, and I felt we deserved something from it, our performance deserved something, but it’s always tough when you go to teams like Manchester City because the standard of players right through the age groups is very high.”
On call-ups from the under-18s
“Christian Marques will be away with Switzerland, while Lewis Richards is with the Republic of Ireland for a few days. Two of our goalkeepers are on standby, with Joe Young on standby for England under-18s and Jackson Smith is on standby for England under-19s. Chem Campbell is also on standby for Wales under-19s.
“Jack Scott would’ve gone out, but he’s got concussion, so he’s gone back home as there is a concussion protocol that we must follow. He was due to go with the Northern Ireland under-19s with the possibility of moving up to the under-21s like he did in September.”
On under-18 internationals
“The likes of Christian and Lewis, two of the players who moved up to play for the under-23s recently, will be involved in international games and they probably won’t get the rest that the others will get.
“I know Christian will be involved in some qualifying games for Switzerland under-17 and Lewis has got a couple of friendly games with Ireland under-19s against Denmark whilst he’s out there.
“What we’re going to try and do with those lads in give them some rest a couple of days before and after they’ve been involved in the camps – that’s the only way we can give them some rest.”
On recovery time for squad
“We’ll also give the players who are going away on international duty three days rest as well at some point. It’s always a juggling act when some are away for a few days, some are away for 10 days, some a week, some two weeks.
“It varies, but we try to give them that time to get some rest because those that do go away are training every day, playing high intensity and tough games, but we feel this is important for their development that they do play for their international teams if they are available and fit.
“When they come back, we have to juggle the training around, but the break is good for giving the players a few days off with their family, because they’re still young boys, many living away from home, so that family time is important.”
