James Collins was pleased to see a productive week end with a four-goal victory, as Wolves under-21s brought their time in Bratislava to a close.
The youngsters spent seven nights on a pre-season camp in the Slovakian capital alongside the under-16 and under-18 groups, allowing for players and coaches to collaborate and mix with one another. Players as young as 16 were integrated into Collins’ group and the head coach has praised the way his squad worked throughout the week in facilities he has described as ‘incredible’.
On the week as a whole
“Through the whole week, the boys worked hard at what we were asking them to do. We came to Bratislava with a very young group and it’s been good to see the young boys mix with the older boys.
“The togetherness is starting to build and it was nice to get some goals in the second game. In the first two games of pre-season we hadn’t scored so it was nice for them to see that the work we’re doing does pay off tactically.
“It was a nice way to end the trip after a really tough game the other day.”
On the two friendly games
“The team we played in the first game was a men’s team so physically, it’s hard to stay in the game. The second game was against players who were still older, but they didn’t quite have the physicality and the power that the first game had.
“That allowed us to practice what we wanted to practice without getting punished as we did in the first game.
“We put in very similar performances in both games. One game ended with a 2-0 defeat against a stronger team, the other ended in a 4-0 win.
“It’s about whether they’re looking to work at the objectives we’re asking them to. In both games, they have done. We can get better, keep the ball better and be harder to beat, but they’re things we’ll continue to work on.”
On the facilities in Bratislava
“The facilities are incredible. You have to see it to believe it. From equestrianism, the biggest and best gym I’ve ever seen, the swimming pool – it’s got everything.
“Some of the activities we’ve done off the pitch have been incredible. It’s only a short flight so that always helps and we haven’t had to travel eight/nine hours to get here.
“It’s been different for us in a way because we’ve had an under-16 and under-18 group with us. That’s allowed us to mix players between the groups really well which has been a real plus.
“It’s allowed us to get Conor (McLeod) time on both pitches which we can’t normally do, Tom Edozie’s got time on both pitches and so has Finn Ashworth. It’s definitely been worthwhile.”
On integrating younger players into the group
“What we’ve done this week is try to get them to understand our environment. It’s different to an academy environment as we’re the bridging gap between first-team football and academy football.
“They’ve been well brought up and the principles of what they’re doing have been embedded into them.
“It’s been a great learning curve for the younger boys and hopefully they’ve enjoyed it. Some of them will stay with us for a while now and some will integrate back into the under-18s group.
“The transition has been good and our communication between the groups has been really good this week. It’s been good to get to know Rich (Walker) and I know him from my days at Crewe. It’s been a positive week and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.”
