With pre-season a week old already, Justin Walker’s message to his Derby County Under-18s players is a simple one. Be ready to take your opportunity.
That, of course, was the case last year.
A number of his squad made the successful transition to Under-23s football – including scholars – and played a pivotal role in Darren Wassall’s side retaining their Premier League 2 Division 1 status.
On top of that, the Under-18s enjoyed their most successful campaign to date results wise – a perfect combination that reflects truly how much talent is emerging through the Rams’ Academy at this time.
The 2018/19 season will see Walker, the club’s professional development phase coach, welcoming 11 new scholars to his group and he told dcfc.co.uk that his group have everything at their disposal to be anything that they want to be.
He said: “There’s 20 players for this season. They are independent now. They’re becoming young men and some of them are coming through the door for the first time on a permanent basis.
“That’s a big transition to make, but all the resources in place to help them.
“We have an exciting, yet tough pre-season. Nothing will change, however, when it comes to the standards and expectations within the club.
“We measure our progress in terms of the players that are moving forward in the club.
“We had a high number of players out on loan last season gaining valuable experience and with that, a number of the younger players stepped up quite quickly.
“They did themselves proud and we’re looking for that to happen again this year. It’s down to them to be ready to take it.”
There will be one big difference to the Under-18s set-up this season, compared to recent years.
Rory Delap worked alongside Walker with that age group for the last four years, but this summer the former Republic of Ireland international took up a first team coaching position at Stoke City.
Walker admitted that it felt almost ‘weird’ not to be working with him and was disappointed to see him depart.
“It feels weird to be sat here doing this interview with him not sat next to me,” Walker added.
“We’ve had a good four or five years together and I’ve learned a lot from him. It was great to work together too, but all good things come to an end.
“Unfortunately, for me and the club, him leaving is a big loss. That said, I am excited for the opportunity that he has got.
“One of his aspirations was to work at first team level and he will have that at Stoke. I wish him well.
“Things change quite quickly in football. People move on into roles that present themselves. Rory came in here and worked hard and I’m sure he will go on to bigger and better things.
“We had a few tears and it feels like we have had a little divorce this summer.”