4 min read
25th Aug 2022
Following opening day victory at Blackburn Rovers, Steve Davis’ under-18s enjoyed a free week, which allowed a number of opportunities for the Wolves youngsters.
As well as pencilling in two additional friendly matches for his group, Davis saw a number of his second years move up to James Collins’ under-21s training.
Ahead of Saturday’s first home game of the season against Stoke City, the head coach spoke about learning the character of his players, making the most of two weeks without a game and instilling a winning mentality into the group.
On final reflections on opening day victory
“It’s always nice to win that first game. You go through six weeks of pre-season and you’re working towards that first game – you’re hoping the lads have taken on board what you’ve been working on, and I was pleased because we saw quite a few signs of that.
“We managed the second-half really well and slowed things down and quickened things up when we needed to.
“I don’t yet know the full character of all the players and how they’re going to cope in certain situations. To go 1-0 up after five minutes and be able to manage the rest of the game was really satisfying.
“We didn’t create too much in the final third in the second half but, on the other hand, we didn’t allow them too many chances either.
“I was pleased with the character of the players – they showed a lot of personality on the day.”
On how the two-week break was utilised
“We had a blank weekend, so we arranged a couple of 17s games – one for our 16s/17s and one for our first years.
“We took a strong group down to Chelsea to play their best 17s which we did really well in. We made quite a few changes which probably reflected the result after being 2-0 up and it then finished 2-2.
“We were still really pleased with our players’ performances individually as well which is obviously what we’re looking for against some of the better players in the country.
“The second game was against Chesterfield with a different group of players and a different type of challenge. Again, we did well in that, winning 1-0.
“We’re conscious of players not getting game time in the 18s who need to play. We’re also conscious of challenging our better under 16s in some of those elite fixtures.
“It also gives the opportunity for the second years to train with the under 21s, so they had a couple of sessions, and it gave James (Collins) the chance to have a look at them.”
On preparing for Stoke and instilling a winning mentality
“We’ve had a look at how they play and what they do so we’ll have an idea – we’ll do some analysis on Friday to look at their strengths and weaknesses of them and how we might hurt them.
“The lads will be fully aware of anything we can use on the day to gain an advantage and hopefully they can carry that plan out.
“It’s always nice to win. When you’re transitioning from 16s to 18s it becomes more paramount in teaching them how to win games.
“The actual professionalism of that and how you play in certain situations becomes really important – you don’t really think about that at 16s because it’s non-competitive and there isn’t a league table or points at stake.
“That’s the difference with the 18s and then obviously you jump up to the 21s which becomes a little bit closer to the first team.
“That’s what we try and get into them now at 16 (to win). I think they’re all born with that – especially if you’re in this elite environment at Wolves or any category one academy. They all want to win but it’s learning how to do that which is the most important thing.”
