A week with more focus on training has brought a further opportunity for the new arrivals to settle in, with manager Chris Beech keeping an eye on his new charges both on and off the pitch.
“It’s a whirlwind for younger players when they come in and they have a lot to deal with off the pitch,” he said. “It’s a simple thing to say they should be ok, and they should just get on with it, but they’re moving away from home for the first time and that’s a new type of challenge.
“I remember when I signed for Hartlepool and I left home for the first time, it does make a difference. You have to get to grips with it as quickly as you can, and weeks like this will only help them because they’ve worked really had with the group. Hopefully this weekend everybody will be on it.”
“With the new players, we have everything from experience to lads who are doing this for the first time,” he added. “Kelvin Mellor has taken it in his stride, as you’d expect, and like I said the other day, he’s a great bloke first and foremost.
“I did try and get him previous, I’ve spoken about him with people who know him and played in the same youth teams as him, he comes across really well, his performance was good and I want to try and enhance what it was too.
“Mind you, it would be nice if started scoring overhead kicks instead of missing them!”
And on Arsenal defender Jonathan Dinzeyi, he told us: “He’s perfect for us. His potential’s massive, his capability’s massive and he will want this, he wants to play, but it’s funny, football, you’ve got to make sure.
“I’ve always been a big thing in this at our club, because you get asked many different questions off the pitch, never mind on it, in terms of how you prepare as a workforce.
“You’ve got to make sure the culture’s right, environment’s right, and the players fitting in it are right.
“You interviewed Brad and Jonathan about the little bit of a surprise of how intense training is, how hard it is, how quick it is.
“While you’re in these academy environments, things are slower, a little bit easier, there’s less accountability to results or performance in some areas because they’ve got so many players.
“When you’re involved in a first-team squad, everything matters. I think he’s getting to grips with that and he’s doing well.”
