Under 23s depart for Wisbech and Norwich games
The first team went to Ireland while the youth team enjoyed a tournament in Prague. Now it is the turn of the under-23 team who will be based in Colchester, birthplace of one of their coaches Andy Farrell, over the next few days and will play two games before returning home.
Last Friday the team played at Brocton, a game that was part of the deal that saw us sign Harry Flowers earlier this year, and tonight our opponents are Wisbech Town, a game which was added to the pre-season fixture list when we signed Harry Limb (pictured).
We will then follow that up with a game against Norwich’s under-23 team at their Colney training ground on Friday before returning home for one last friendly against Derby before the season gets underway in the Professional Development League, the fixtures for which we still await.
Wisbech play in the United Counties League Premier Division and have already kicked off the new league season with a 2-1 victory against Wellingborough Town which delighted manager Dick Creasey.
But tonight’s game is all about Limb’s return and he said recently: “I’m looking forward to the game, mainly to see everyone. Hopefully it’s going to be a good game and will help both sides go on to have a great season.
“The last few months at Burnley have been good. We ended the season with a good win but unfortunately missed out on winning the league (Youth Alliance). I’m now focusing on being as fit as I can and doing my best to improve.”
Coach Michael Duff said ahead of the trip: “While we are down there (for the Wisbech game) it made sense to tie something else in around the area and Norwich will be a good game for us. They are a category one team.
“We have played a lot of men’s non-league football so this will be chalk and cheese, the type of football we will come up against. We have played against big, physical men and against Norwich it will be a lot more technical and a lot more possession based football.”
Duff will have some of the second year scholars with him, leaving the first years, in the main, to face Middlesbrough in a youth team friendly.
He added: “It’s good for our lads to come together. The group is a bit more fractured with some of the under-18s coming in and some others going out on loan, so it’s good to get them together. It’s a new mix as well, some of them have only just walked in the door, some have come up from the 18s, some have been here a few years. They’re different dynamics which we are trying to tie all together.”
Kick off tonight at Wisbech is 7 p.m.
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