Fleetwood Town Under-18 midfielder Bosembo Namputu has spoken to the media ahead of the Professional Development League match away at Colchester United on Saturday 26 August.
The second year scholar joined the Cod Army 12 months ago from Norwich City, and has cemented himself in Mark Yeates squad, playing a vital role in the middle of the park in the league opener at home to Watford FC - which Town won 3-0 at Poolfoot Farm.
Bosembo discussed the challenges of moving away from home, the responsibilities of being a second year scholar and the match this weekend at Colchester in the feature interview on iFollow.
On his new-found responsibilities as a second year scholar...
"It's important to show the club-values to the new first-years. We can help them when they are struggling and lead them on and off the pitch, and I know I will have to take responsibilities sometimes. I know what it means to be a first-timer through the door, there was a lot of people that helped me through highs and lows and how to react to being disappointed but to learn to hold high standards.
"I like to think a lot but when I make a mistake, I do think on how to react and what I can do next because that helps me a lot, it's important to not get caught up in the moment because that can leave you more frustrated.
"I have improved as a person being here, it's a new environment that has helped me become a new character. It's a different culture being up North compared to being down South but you have to be willing to learn and adapt and make new changes."
On his playing style and what he works on...
"I am a physical player, I like being on the front-foot and on the press. I enjoy being competitive and combative, I like winning the ball back high up on the pitch, that is probably one of my biggest strengths; I still need to work on things like my passing because I have heard previously that the club does bring through players from the academy to the first team.
"I feel I have a good chance, there has been a good group play for the first team come from the academy. The coaches have played the game before, they know and understand the game so you have to listen to them if you want to improve your game.
"The coaches, physios and staff all help everyday making sure you stay fit and make the right decisions off the pitch especially with diet and routine - some of the new boys look up to the second years so we know we have to maintain the standards and show the right attitude because that can help working to a positive result on Saturday."
On the win against Watford and the fixture coming up...
"I thought we all played really well, we stayed compact and communicated well with each other, it was a good team performance.
"The result has given us a lot of confidence because in the first game everyone is quite nervous but it's positive to get the win and we were all relieved and excited because in pre-season we had a lot of up and downs, we all learned a lot about each other and it was good to get the win because our main thing was our togetherness.
"We're expecting Colchester to be physical and to have the ability to run around a lot, we know they could leave gaps in behind so we can use that to help our playing style because we can counter their spaces on the break."