POTTERS’ RELENTLESS PUSH
Russell outlines the approach City’s youngsters must take to become first-team regulars
KEVIN Russell has told his young players to treat every training session like a cup final if they want to make the step up and hold down a place in the Stoke first team.
Russell has overseen an encouraging season for the under-23s, albeit ending in disappointment on Monday night when they lost the Premier League 2 play-off final 2-0 at Wolves.
There are players in the squad who have had a taste of league football over the last few months, but Russell has stressed the relentlessness of getting up and staying up and that is the next big challenge for players like D’margio Wright-phillips, Tom Sparrow and Will Forrester.
He said: “We’re trying to push as many players into the first team as possible. D’margio’s gone up and probably played 10 games, Sparrow has made his debut, Will Forrester has played four or five - but until you’ve played 50 or 60, there is still a long way to go, you’re nowhere near where you need to be. You’ve got to keep pushing on.
“When you get 50, 60 games you’ve got the right to call yourself a first-team player - at the moment they haven’t.
“They’ve got to get that consistency in performances that keeps them in there and it’s hard. That’s what we’re trying to build. Every game is a cup final for these lads. Every training session is the same, they’ve got to train like it’s a cup final. Finding that every day is hard, but that’s what you’ve got to strive towards.”
He added: “It’s relentless and you have to keep going. I’m a big believer in that. Tom Edwards played 40 games but all of a sudden, the manager comes in, he wasn’t quite there and he’s out on loan at Red Bulls.
“The game is ruthless. You’ve got to try to prepare these boys that if you’re not at it every day, people will think they can take your shirt. You’ve got to make sure you’re prepared mentally to be strong enough to withstand that and put in performances day in, day out.
“We went 2-0 down in the first half but came back and dug in. That’s what you want, you want to see a strong mentality. When things are not going well, you’ve got to make sure you affect your opponent. If I’m not playing well, he’s not playing well.
“In the first half we lost out on too many individual duels and that’s something we told them we’ve got to be better at.”
Michael O’neill is expected to invite several of the junior squad to spend at least part of pre-season with the seniors.
“We’re not going to get much rest,” said Russell. “They’ll have three or four weeks off and then they’re back. If they get a chance to be with the first team in pre-season they’ve got to take it.
“That’s the most important thing. Day in, day out you have to be at the right level.
“That’s what the manager will be looking for and that’s what keeps them there.”
It is a young side even for under23s level and Emre Tezgel led the Potters front line at Molineux hours after sitting a geography GCSE exam.
Russell said: “Emre’s done an exam this morning. He’s 16, Jack Griffiths is 16, Tommy Simkin... I thought he was outstanding in goal. He made good saves, looked really composed and good with his feet. We’ve got to look at the big picture and although the result wasn’t what we wanted, it was good experience for the boys.”