Derby County's Under-21s Lead Coach Jake Buxton says his side will face 'even tougher tests' in the 2024/25 season - but insists they are ready to compete in Premier League 2 once again.
The Under-21s begin their season on Friday 16th August when they travel to face Aston Villa at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground (6pm kick-off).
Their first home game will come a week later on Friday 23rd August against Manchester City (7pm kick-off) and will be played, like all the sides’ Premier League 2 home fixtures for the season, at Matlock Town's Proctor Cars Stadium.
The Rams' youngsters have a competitive fixture list once again this term, with clashes against the brightest talents across the country with the likes of Premier League Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal in the division.
They will also compete in the Central League once again, which will bolster their fixture list, adding nine games to their fixture programme against the likes of Wrexham, Stoke City and Preston North End.
Buxton sat down with RamsTV ahead of the new season to discuss the importance of last month's pre-season tour to Ireland, the new additions to the squad and learning from his playing days.
On the squad’s preparation work for the new season…
We had a very good pre-season. We had the opportunity to go out to Ireland and play Shamrock and St Patricks, which was a great experience and a great tour for the players. We've had a great variety of fixtures back here too, playing Mansfield's first team and Barnsley's first team. We also got the opportunity to play Glasgow Rangers as well, which was a tough test. But preparation-wise, we feel we are in good nick and we're looking forward to the start of the season.
I experienced going on tour to Ireland as a player, and it was a very good experience with Nigel Clough when he took us away to Ireland to play Bohemians. The experience was brilliant; the reception we got when we arrived in Ireland and then the hotel was tremendous. The facilities were top-notch, and the level of opponents was really, really good. It was a great challenge for the lads. We had a great time to bond and to find out a little bit more about the players.
On adapting pre-season for the modern game…
In terms of having that blend of things you've learnt as a player over the years from certain managers you've worked under - and especially the trips and the tours from Nigel Clough - is something which has stuck with me and will remain with me throughout my coaching career. You remember that when you finish, those tours and those trips we had.
You remember those days and it was about giving those players that experience to go over to Ireland and go and watch Europa League games too. We watched Shamrock Rovers play in the Europa League while we were out there as well, which was a great experience, and allowed the players to have a little bit of downtime and enjoy themselves. More importantly, we wanted them to bond, to get to know each other as a group and for us as coaches to get to know the players as well.
On the new faces in the group…
We've added Morten Spencer to the squad. He came in at the back end of last season on a trial period from Leeds United. He has tremendous technically with the ball. He's had a tough time in the past 18 months in terms of injury. If we can keep him fit and play him regularly, I'm sure he'll have a bright future.
We've brought Emmanuel Ilesanmi in as a number nine from Harrogate Town, who is a focal point for us. We can play him as a target man number nine. He is a lovely lad, a top lad, and is always smiling. He's a pleasure to work with. There are areas of development which we need to work on with him every day. We want to keep improving him and it'll be a great experience for him as well
We've also added Freddie Turley to the group, who's come over from Ireland. The relationship we've built up with the connection in Ireland has been good. He's been with us for a couple of weeks, so he's finding his feet.
Alex Stepien-Iwumene has also signed after having a spell on trial at the end of last season from Southampton, while a number of players have stepped up from the Under-18s after signing professional contracts over the summer.
He's come in off the back of playing quite a lot of games in senior football out at Bray Wanderers on loan, where I got the opportunity to go and watch him play. He's one who we're really interested in working with. We've had some new faces, but we're happy with the group.
The group has improved again from where we were in the last couple of years. We've got a lot of players within that group who've been with us from such a young age and know what's required to play for Derby County. We're looking at having an improved season on last year.
On the upcoming Premier League 2 season…
The opponents are tougher in Premier League 2. It's always a challenge for us as a group and as a football club to compete. Bar one 30 minutes last season, we competed in every game, and we expect to do that this year.
The calibre of players we've got and the quality we've got within the group has improved. We expect to have more positive performances, win more games, but more importantly, have better players getting closer to knocking on the door of the first team.
