The festive break has meant the team will have had a period of 17 days without a game by the time they take on Forest in the U18 Premier League. In recent months, a number of players have been given a taste of the action at under-21 level and McPike is hoping they translate what they’ve picked up in the age group above back into the under-18s, while the head coach has also referred to first-team opportunities as inspiration for his squad to work towards.
On the festive break and bouncing back from FA Youth Cup defeat
“It’s been a good chance for the boys to reflect on the season so far and to rest and recuperate. They’ve worked really hard over the last two weeks in preparation for Saturday.
“We’ve had to lift ourselves back up and the only way to do that is to work hard. We’ve got to work harder than we did before, run further than we did before and focus technically on what they need to be good at on the football pitch.”
On what he wants to see from his players this year
“In summary, it’s a burning desire to be a footballer. I want them to show us how much it means to them with how they work in training, how they apply themselves off the pitch and ultimately how they apply themselves on it.
“That won’t necessarily translate into results but I’m a big believer that the process will support that. If the process is right, it’ll give us a better chance of winning games.”
On what players have learnt from under-21s experiences
“I think they always will, especially working with James (Collins) – they’ll definitely learn lots. They’ve now got to apply what they learnt and translate it into the 18s.
“It’s important they keep doing what they were doing that got them the opportunity in the first place to then hopefully get that chance again in the future.
“Just because they’ve had a sniff of it doesn’t mean they’re now under-21s players. They need to keep working hard until they start pushing people for places in that age group.”
On looking up to players who have broken into the first-team
“When people like Joe Hodge and Hugo Bueno are doing so well in the first-team, working so hard and getting the opportunity, it can do nothing but inspire them to crack on and work hard.
“We always refer to players like that. There have been players in the 21s who trained with the first-team over the World Cup break and it shows that there’s opportunity at this club, so it’s up to them to take it.”
On what to expect from Nottingham Forest
“Forest are a really good side. They’re competitive, they run really hard and are good on the ball. They had a successful FA Youth Cup run last season getting to the final, so it’s always a challenging game against them.
“I’ve told our players that everything we’ve worked on this week, I want to see it on Saturday. I want them to compete and stick together.”
