Burnett's boys aiming high on return to France

Development Squad coach Wayne Burnett is excited about the challenge in front of his young charges ahead of this weekend’s European Under-21 Tournament in France.

We return to Ploufragan to take part in the annual pre-season competition, which sees clubs such as OGC Nice and Standard Liege head to a renowned French sporting facility to compete in an intense three-day tournament.

It's a competition we've had highs and lows in over the last few years. In 2017, we were victorious in the final against Standard Liege following a 5-4 penalty shootout triumph but then, last summer, despite a enjoying a promising start, we could only manage a fourth place finish.

Wayne is hoping that the success of two years ago will return this time around and he believes that his players have every chance of making that happen.

“We’ve experienced this tournament before. The fixtures come thick and fast, so you have to be ready both physically and mentally," he said. "It can be quite a gruelling tournament because the games are on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but we’re looking to go out there and impose ourselves on the games.

“We won it two years ago so we’d like to go out there and try to repeat that. We’ve assembled a good squad and we feel like we’re strong in all departments so I think it will be a really exciting but challenging tournament for us. The teams are always very competitive.

“Last year, we were in a really good position where we were almost into the final, but one of our players got sent off and instead of going into the final, we ended up finishing fourth. So it's fine margins and fine lines, but I think we are as prepared as we possibly can be.

“The first game is vitally important – you have to get off to a good start. If you manage to win the first game, it puts you in a good position. The top teams of each group then play each other – there is no semi-final - so it's imperative that we make a good start.

“We’ve got a good group of players and everyone will get an opportunity to play. We’ll have to use the squad intelligently but I’m confident in the group that we have.”

Up against us in the group stage this year will be a trio of young French outfits in SM Caen, RC Strasbourg and Stade Rennais.

Having already earned encouraging draws in our first two Development Squad pre-season games against Ebbsfleet United (2-2) and Dulwich Hamlet (1-1), Wayne has been pleased with the progress his side have made so far in their preparations for the upcoming season.

“We look at how we are physically and, at the moment, we look good in that respect,” he said. “We’re preparing for games well. We’re not playing how we want to play for a full 90 minutes – we’re dominating in periods but there’s work to be done. That’s ongoing though and the players are still young - they’re still learning, they’re still developing and they’re still growing physically, mentally, technically and tactically. We’re always developing.”

Travelling squad: Kurylowicz, Oluwayemi, Binks, R Clarke, Dinzeyi, Etete, Eyoma, Hinds, Maghoma, Markanday, Oakley-Boothe, Okedina, Richards, A Shashoua, Statham, Sterling, Thorpe, Tracey.