Dale’s Head of Academy Coaching, Rick Ashcroft, says the Youth Team lads have been working hard this week, despite having no fixture scheduled for this Saturday.
The under 18s don’t return to action until Tuesday when they host Blackpool Ewen Fields and Ashcroft has welcomed the extended time on the training pitch.
He told Dale PlayerHD: “It [having no Saturday fixture to prepare for] gives us an intense period of time where we can crank everything up and where we’re not concentrating too much on getting the balance between work and recovery right for the Saturday.
“We’ve been addressing some of the issues we’ve faced recently, in terms of looking at analysis, but it has given us a period of time where we can really crank up the work-rate, the intensity, the demands, the desire and the application.
“They should be there all of the time but it gives us a chance to have those re-set moments and to really hammer those things home, which is what the first team manager wants and the football club are asking for.
“It has been pleasing in that regard, and in terms of the response we’ve had from the lads, but we’ve got to carry it across the white line on Tuesday when we go and play against Blackpool. There’s no point doing it for ten days then leaving it behind.”
The full interview is on Dale PlayerHD.