The U20s have been back in training this week. Coach Paul Sheerin spoke to RedTV about how things have been going ahead of the new season.

RedTV | to watch the interview with Paul in full please click here

“The week has been very good actually. It has been a really positive week. When you are working with young players there are always ups and downs and I know there is always something around the corner that won’t be so positive but so far I have been very pleased with their work.

“With the first team players being off it has been a good grounding for them. We have managed to get the boys into good habits in terms of their jobs around the club ahead of the senior squad coming back next week.

“As for the training they have come back looking sharp and fit. Up to now I am really pleased. A really encouraging start from them.

“We have scope to bring in more players. In terms of numbers we are not very high. The likelihood is that Frank Ross and Daniel Harvie will step up to the first team along with Scott Wright. Although they will obviously still be available for games they will no longer be in the 20s squad. So there is room to bring players in but we are not in hurry and we will not make any rash decisions. We will take our time over pre-season and if there is someone who suits our club and suits our style of play and suits us in terms of how we want to go about things and someone who has the right attitude, then we will bring them in.

“My job is about developing players and I think last season we saw a huge improvement during the second of the of the season compared with the first. We managed to introduce certain players who are coming in such as Dean Campbell, Ethan Ross and Jack MacKenzie from the U17s. They had games and mixed with the players. The integration has happened which is positive. Archie Mair was unfortunately injured at the tail end of last season so he did not get as much involvement as we would have liked but he was still able to come in and spend some time in the dressing room. Hopefully that will help them going forward.

“I am confident the squad we have will do well in terms of developing and becoming better players and hopefully that will show in results. The scoreline is not the be all and end all but it is always good to win football matches.

“This is my fourth pre-season with the club since I came back. During that time Dean Campbell has always been one that we looked to for the future and one we have always seen the potential in. To see Dean making his debut against Celtic was incredible for everyone involved with the Academy. For all the coaches it was a big moment as they can then go back to the players at the younger levels and say these are the opportunities that are there for you at this club if you are willing to working hard. To be fair to Dean he has done that and has always shown a willingness to be the best he can be.

“Our first friendly is away to Turriff on the 4th of July and then we have a little Highland tour. We will get a better gauge and understanding of how the players are looking when we play the games.

“We have the Irn-Bru Cup after that. Not that many of the 20s teams did that well last season which shows you the gulf between youth and senior football. It was a really good experience which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, against Forfar big Sam got sent off quite early and it was an uphill struggle after that. I thought with eleven on the park we would have won that game and then we would have seen where it took us. It is a different challenge and quite an interesting one.

“Last season a number of boys went on loan. Some of the moves worked, some of them did not. What you do find out is if they can deal it. Daniel Harvie was one who did.

“It was very touch and go whether we brought Daniel back (to be involved with the first team) in January. In hindsight, it was probably the right decision as I am not sure he would have played ahead of Andy, Graeme or Mark at that time. So for him to get a whole season at that level was brilliant experience for his development and from the clubs point of view he will be ready to hit the ground running next week when the first team come back in.”