Youth Coach Simon Wiles looks ahead to Saturday as Fleetwood Town’s Under 18s face Blackpool in the local derby at Poolfoot Farm.
Town welcome local rivals Blackpool to the club’s training ground on Saturday morning in the North West Youth Alliance League. The game will take place at Poolfoot Farm, with kick-off at 11am, and fans are more than welcome to come and watch the Cods in action.
With Wiles’ men drawing their opening match of the season against Walsall, picking up all three points against your rivals would be the perfect to get the ball rolling.
Here are the best quotes from Simon Wiles' pre match interview…
On the local derby against Blackpool…
“The lads have trained really well this week, and I know it’s a local derby, but it’s just another game in our programme that we’re looking forward to. It’s obviously going to be an intense game, however we’ve just got to make sure we get our objectives out that we’ve set for the whole week.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the team develop in the game and throughout the season. Preparations have been good, but now the lads and the staff are all looking forward to kick-off.”
On room for improvement…
“We were pleased with our last performance against Walsall. There are areas for improvement, and we probably could have nicked it at the end.
“We played some good stuff in the second half, and we’re hoping to be that little more clinical in the final third. We were great playing through the thirds, but the final decision let us down a little bit.
“We’re hoping to put that right against Blackpool, and in fixtures moving forward.”
On the opposition…
“We know how Blackpool play, it’s going to be a challenge. They’ve been successful over the past few years, and play some good football.
“It’s another great test for us to see how far we have come. They got to the Semi-Finals of the FA Youth Cup last year which is an unbelievable achievement, so we know what sort of football they’re going to bring, but it's up to us to rise to the challenge.
“We have to focus on our job and make sure each of our players are developing across the whole season. It’s another fantastic test for the boys, and I know it’s going to be an entertaining game.”
Academy prospect Carl Johnston represented Northern Ireland in the Under 17’s Nordic Cup, captaining the side in a 3-1 win over China. And Wile’s said he was proud of his achievements, but knows there’s still work to do with the 17-year-old. (back row, far right)
“We’ve been keeping track of CJ whilst he’s been away. He’s played in the majority of the games whilst he’s been out there.
“He played against Sweden, and by all accounts he played well, but they were unfortunate with the result.
“With those players being away its fantastic opportunity and experience that they’re getting, and we hope they can bring it back into our group of players.
“We’ve had some good feedback on Carl’s performances, he captained the side against China which was fantastic, and he’s going to learn leadership skills around international players.”