Poland Trip Essential For PL2 Preparation, Says Beaglehole
- Development Squad manager Steve Beaglehole provides an update from Poland
- Leicester City's youngsters are preparing for the new Premier League 2 Division 1 season
- A total of 22 players of all youth-level ages, including Academy scholars, have made the trip
- City's Under-23s will discover their full fixture schedule for the new league season shortly
A group of 22 youngsters have travelled with the Development Squad to embark on a week of fitness and conditioning work as part of their continued preparations for the upcoming campaign.
With intense daily training sessions, combined with tactical meetings, all located within walking distance of their headquarters, Beaglehole's talented squad is able to focus solely on football.
Last term, City's youngsters narrowly missed out on the Division 1 title which, following the hard work conducted this summer, bodes well for another productive season.
“It’s been a brilliant trip, during which we have introduced some of the methods used by the first team on similar trips,” Beaglehole said this week.
“I joined Claude [Puel] and the first team coaching staff in Évian-les-Bains earlier this summer and it was beneficial both for me and the younger players to see what they get up to.
“Trips like these keep the players grounded. We’ve got a pitch which we can walk to in the mornings and we can focus on preparing for the new season 24 hours a day.
“We’re working closely with the players, making sure that they know what we expect from them physically and tactically ahead of the new season.
“This is where you build a base level of fitness, but it’s also very important for the morale and camaraderie in the group.”
As the Development Squad await to discover their Premier League 2 fixtures, Beaglehole has also been enthused by the commitment of his young squad over the summer.
The trip to Poland has presented the Under-23s manager with the opportunity to introduce members of Trevor Peake’s Under-18s squad, something he believes will be an invaluable experience.
“We’re all really excited for the new season and we feel like we’re ready to once again give our best to try and do the Club proud in what is always a competitive league,” he added.
“One thing we’ve been able to do during these trips is, in a similar way to the first team taking some Under-23s, we’ve been able to welcome some Under-18s to the group.
“We’ve had a number of the scholars join us in Poland and they haven’t looked out of place, which is a testament to the work Trevor Peake and Steve Kirby do.
“It all bodes well for another good season where we hope to perform well in matches, do well in the league, while always trying to push players on towards the first team.”