Under-18s raring to go again

John McDermott hopes our youngsters will hit the ground running as our Barclays Under-18 Premier League campaign resumes with the visit of West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

The postponement of last weekend’s trip to Chelsea means our Under-18s have yet to return to domestic action following the break in league fixtures over the festive period – with consecutive tournaments in Florida and Vietnam having kept the players busy throughout December and early January.

Academy Manager John admitted the lads are eager to get back into action, with a busy programme of fixtures on the horizon.

“Hopefully we’ll come flying out of the blocks after two weeks off following the Vietnam trip,” John said ahead of Saturday’s game at the Training Centre.

“We’re champing at the bit. We’re going into a games programme in which we’ve potentially got a lot of midweek games now. I’m just hoping that the amount of games that we’ve got to play doesn’t diminish the quality of the training.”

John confessed the time off since the Vietnam trip at the start of this month has allowed everyone to recharge their batteries ahead of this weekend’s Baggies test.

“I’d say the games in Vietnam especially have been amongst the toughest games I’ve been involved in since I’ve been at Tottenham Hotspur,” he added.

“We’re certainly not rusty. It was a shame that last week’s game against Chelsea was postponed, although in a way it wasn’t bad to have two weeks off after Vietnam, because I think the heat and the three games in five days (in Vietnam) was incredibly sapping.

“But as we approach this weekend, as always, we’ll adapt to whatever system West Brom have got and whatever players they’ve got.”