SAINTS B head coach Dave Horseman assured “we’ll get some good players out of this group” and credited his staff for their enthusiasm in developing the youngsters.
The former Bristol City man is preparing to take the top group of the Staplewood Campus-based academy for his fourth season, as Premier League 2 kicks off next month.
Horseman and Saints B will be looking to go one better than last campaign, where, after a difficult start, they finished outside of the Division Two play-offs on goal difference.
They are still hunting a first win of pre-season, with two more clashes to go before heading to Nottingham Forest on August 8, following an intense 2-2 draw with Eastleigh on Tuesday.
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“I thought Eastleigh were excellent,” Horseman admitted, after watching his side take a two goal lead but then be overcome by a physical challenge in the second period.
“I thought bar maybe finishing in one box and a couple of loose moments in the other box, on the whole I thought there were loads of positives to come out of tonight,” he added.
“Both individually and collectively. So that was an intense one and that’s what we need - we need those challenges.
“We’ve got enthusiastic staff and so we should be. We’ve got a brilliant job and life’s not that bad! If we keep going, we’ll get some good players out of this group for sure.”
Horseman works alongside individual player coach Lee Skyrme, as well as the likes of Louis Carey - who began his Saints career coaching under-8s in the Bath centre.
One of their new B team starlets, 18-year-old winger Diamond Edwards, travelled with Ralph Hasenhuttl and the first-team for the pre-season tour of Austria.
The youngster featured as a right-wing-back in the boss’ new system, impressing the coaches before returning to the under-21s group – who themselves visited Spain.
Edwards netted the opener of the 2-2 draw with a tidy finish across experienced stopper Joe McDonnell, after a setup inside the area by Kamari Doyle.
“Diamond I think has done really, really well, but we have to be patient,” Horseman insisted.
“We have to understand that he missed 18 months of football so he’s got physically a lot to do because he hasn’t played loads of football.
“Technically and tactically to make sure he’s in goalscoring positions, we’re delighted with his goal tonight because that’s something he has to do more.
“But he’s a brilliant boy, really wants to learn, he’s enthusiastic and because of that he has a chance of playing at a decent level.”
Horseman will be without some of the stars of his B team in recent campaigns, after flying full-back Thierry Small and captain-material Kegs Chauke secured League One loans.
Must remember Thierry Small only turns 18 next week and he's already too good for PL2.
— Alfie House (@AlfieHouseEcho) July 26, 2022
He wanted a #SaintsFC first-team path to emerge, given the lack of depth, but some more minutes are needed.
Potential is scary, with experience to beat out any nerves. Hope to see him excel.
Although only turning 18 next week, Small had outgrown Premier League 2 and hoped for a first-team chance at Saints – but it emerged during the Austria trip that he needed more minutes.
“We’re really tight with Butts (Danny Butterfield) and the loans team, we work hand-in-hand and we talk a lot about the young players - and with the first team,” Horseman said.
“They just need to gain experience. We play a completely different style sometimes to anybody else so they have to adapt because they won’t be ball-orientated.
“They won’t build up in a dice form and all the other words we use, they won’t use any of that. So first of all it’s about adapting.”
He continued: “Then I think they just really need to use their environment, you’re going to work with really good managers and coaches, play alongside experienced pros.”
Both Small and Chauke have made their debuts under Hasenhuttl, but are yet to play an extended period of senior football.
“Hopefully if they soak it in they’ll come back better players - that’s the purpose of a loan. I will say, I think loans are really difficult, especially first-time loans,” Horseman admitted.
“There are very few who rip up a loan because it is so different from your environment. But it’s embracing the learning from that and when they do that, they’ll come back and be better players and that’s all you can really ask from them.”
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