The start of a new season is always an exciting time and our new-look U23 group can’t wait to get started. It’s an excellent start to the season for us, beginning with Southampton and then we face two away games in a week when we go to Arsenal and Chelsea. These are the types of games you want to be involved in and test yourselves against. We had a fantastic pre-season and played some great football against the likes of Celtic, Morecambe and MK Dons. I then took a young U19 group to Dortmund for a tournament, where we did ever so well and finished third.
Academy column: A new skipper, Saints opener and farewells
