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Nicky Spooner has been given carte blanche to pick from any eligible player in the Wanderers squad for tonight’s FA Youth Cup clash at Burton Albion.
Keith Hill has allowed the likes of Sonny Graham, Jordan Boon, Callum King-Harmes, Matt Alexander and Adam Senior to train together with the Under-18s group ahead of their trip to the Pirelli Stadium.
Spooner, who has been working with a squad primarily made up of the Under-16s group this season, believes the extra experience will be a significant boost as his side look to book a home game against Millwall in the next round.
“The manager has basically said I can pick from the boys who have been training with the first team, which is fantastic,” he told The Bolton News.
“The lads haven’t really trained as a group since pre-season, so there’s been a cracking atmosphere among them and they are really looking forward to the game.
“We always say that success is opportunity at the academy – and this season they have certainly had that. The lads have been pushing to be a part of that first team squad and it means we’ve had to fill in a few gaps at 18s and 23s along the way.
“But Luca Connell made that step up last season and it has been nice to see four or five of the lads stick around with the gaffer after being put in there early on in the season.”
Many of the names on the team-sheet tonight will be familiar to Bolton fans, as they were the youngsters who stepped into the breach at the start of the season.
The so-called Junior Whites earned plenty of plaudits for coming to the club’s rescue in their hour of need but Spooner admits the experience was not always an easy one.
“I think the lads generally handled it very well,” he said. “There were a few who maybe started to doubt themselves a little bit and didn’t realise just how difficult first team football really is, but the fact some of those boys stayed in there is great for them.
“Now that things have settled down a bit in the Under-23s we’ve been able to get back to normal and progress the other lads at what you’d say is normal pace.
“The upside is that a lot of the lads have played under the floodlights now, and they are less likely to freeze.
“The Bradford game (in the Leasing.com Trophy) was a great atmosphere, so they have that under their belt now, they know the environment they are stepping into.
“We’ve had a couple of times where the lads just freeze. Last season we beat Newcastle and then went down to Palace – which was better than we possibly expected to do. The year before we went out early with arguably a better side, but they just didn’t perform.
“This year we know we’ve got a home game in the next round, so it would be nice to have a cup run.”
The Brewers beat Chesterfield in the previous round and will be supported on the night by the club’s first team squad.
“Me and Gav (McCann) went over to Chesterfield, which was the first opportunity we’d had to really look at them – but we’ll take a look at the videos, suss out where we think their strengths and weaknesses are,” Spooner said.
“Having the lads back together is a big plus for us, so now it’s just a case of how they handle it on the night.”
Fans can watch the game in the Pirelli Stadium’s South Stand, with tickets priced at £5 for adults and £3 concessions.
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Keith Hill has allowed the likes of Sonny Graham, Jordan Boon, Callum King-Harmes, Matt Alexander and Adam Senior to train together with the Under-18s group ahead of their trip to the Pirelli Stadium.
Spooner, who has been working with a squad primarily made up of the Under-16s group this season, believes the extra experience will be a significant boost as his side look to book a home game against Millwall in the next round.
“The manager has basically said I can pick from the boys who have been training with the first team, which is fantastic,” he told The Bolton News.
“The lads haven’t really trained as a group since pre-season, so there’s been a cracking atmosphere among them and they are really looking forward to the game.
“We always say that success is opportunity at the academy – and this season they have certainly had that. The lads have been pushing to be a part of that first team squad and it means we’ve had to fill in a few gaps at 18s and 23s along the way.
“But Luca Connell made that step up last season and it has been nice to see four or five of the lads stick around with the gaffer after being put in there early on in the season.”
Many of the names on the team-sheet tonight will be familiar to Bolton fans, as they were the youngsters who stepped into the breach at the start of the season.
The so-called Junior Whites earned plenty of plaudits for coming to the club’s rescue in their hour of need but Spooner admits the experience was not always an easy one.
“I think the lads generally handled it very well,” he said. “There were a few who maybe started to doubt themselves a little bit and didn’t realise just how difficult first team football really is, but the fact some of those boys stayed in there is great for them.
“Now that things have settled down a bit in the Under-23s we’ve been able to get back to normal and progress the other lads at what you’d say is normal pace.
“The upside is that a lot of the lads have played under the floodlights now, and they are less likely to freeze.
“The Bradford game (in the Leasing.com Trophy) was a great atmosphere, so they have that under their belt now, they know the environment they are stepping into.
“We’ve had a couple of times where the lads just freeze. Last season we beat Newcastle and then went down to Palace – which was better than we possibly expected to do. The year before we went out early with arguably a better side, but they just didn’t perform.
“This year we know we’ve got a home game in the next round, so it would be nice to have a cup run.”
The Brewers beat Chesterfield in the previous round and will be supported on the night by the club’s first team squad.
“Me and Gav (McCann) went over to Chesterfield, which was the first opportunity we’d had to really look at them – but we’ll take a look at the videos, suss out where we think their strengths and weaknesses are,” Spooner said.
“Having the lads back together is a big plus for us, so now it’s just a case of how they handle it on the night.”
Fans can watch the game in the Pirelli Stadium’s South Stand, with tickets priced at £5 for adults and £3 concessions.
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