3 min read
8th Aug 2022
The season gets underway for James Collins’ under-21s at Aggborough on Monday evening, when they’ll look to hit the ground running back in the top tier.
The Wolves youngsters returned to Division 1 of the PL2 back in May when they won the play-offs thanks to a semi-final victory over Norwich City and 2-0 success over Stoke City in the final at Molineux.
That victory over the Potters ended a two-year absence from the top flight and Wolves will look for a more positive campaign than last time at this level in 2019/20, when they were relegated via the points per game system amidst the global pandemic.
To prepare for the new campaign, Collins flew the bulk of his squad to the USA, where they took part in the MLS NEXT Pro tournament, consisting of three pre-season friendlies, including one against Monday’s opponents Chelsea.
On that occasion, the old gold came out victorious thanks to Ollie Tipton’s penalty and a second-half strike courtesy of Lee Harkin, before they were beaten by MLS sides Real Monarchs and Colorado Rapids 2.
A selection of that promotion group were not available in the States after linking up with the first-team, but Collins will hope to call on the likes of Hugo Bueno, Harvey Griffiths, Joe Hodge and Chem Campbell when the Blues come to town.
The Chelsea fixture begins a busy month of August for the under-21s, who face three further PL2 fixtures and the start of their Papa John’s Trophy campaign, as Collins’ men look to begin on the front foot in the 2022/23 campaign.
WHEN
Monday, 7pm
WHERE
Aggborough Stadium, Kidderminster
TICKETS
Tickets can be purchased in advance by clicking here and supporters are encouraged to do so, but entrance will be permitted on the day. Wolves season ticket holders are also entitled to free entry with their card on the turnstiles.
STREAM
Supporters can watch all the action from Kidderminster live this evening, as the match is streamed online via wolves.co.uk, the Wolves App and the Wolves YouTube channel.
The live Wolves TV match stream, beginning at 6.55am, can be found here, or click here to watch on YouTube, while supporters can also catch download the Wolves App now on iOS here and on Android here.
NEXT THREE
Wolves
- vs Blackburn Rovers (A) 14th August
- vs Brighton & Hove Albion (H) 22nd August
- vs Crystal Palace (A) 26th August
Chelsea
- vs Fulham (H) 15th August
- vs Arsenal (A) 19th August
- vs Manchester City (H) 26th August
WHAT THE BOSS THINKS
“We’ve got to keep improving and keep working, developing them technically and developing them tactically to put them in those situations and do better in those situations. Sometimes when the younger boys play, at any academy, because winning isn’t the number one thing, when there’s ten minutes to go and they’re still playing at the same tempo, sometimes you’ve got to take some risks and throw some bodies forward, play on spirit, play on heart, make some noise in the crowd and cause them a bit of worry.
“Some of the younger ones don’t understand that yet. They keep playing the same way, which is ok, but I thought there was a moment in the last ten minutes when they were there for the taking. We had a good go, but that was probably driven from us at the side as opposed to being driven on the pitch, so that’s something we’ve got to learn from.”
