Sky Blues Under 23s coach, Luke Tisdale believes his group have made a good start to their pre-season schedule.
The 23s returned to Ryton back at the end of June, off the back of their impressive end to the 2018/19 season, where they reached the Professional Development League semi-final.
To date, they have played two of their pre-season friendlies, beating Conquest Academy and drawing with GNP Sports.
Reflecting on the opening few weeks, Tisdale believes it has been a positive start.
He said: “It’s been a good start to pre-season.
“It’s been tough for the lads coming back, as they’ve been put through their paces, but they’ve coped well.
“We’ve played two fixtures so far, one against Conquest Academy and then another against GNP Sports.
“The game against GNP Sports gave us the opportunity to come up against a men’s team and for some of the lads it would’ve been for the first time.
“A lot of them got 75 minutes and a few got 90, which is good moving forward.”
Following on from a successful year for Jason Farndon and Tisdale’s group, there has been several players training with the first team.
The likes of Morgan Williams, Sam McCallum, Josh Eccles, Jonny Ngandu and William Bapaga all travelled with the first team squad on their tour of Alicante.
Tisdale was delighted for the lads to gain that experience and get that opportunity with the first team.
“We’ve seen a lot of the lads be given the opportunity to train with the first team, which is a testament to the hard work they put in last season, reaching the PDL (Professional Development League) Semi-Final.
“It’s a great opportunity for them and it’s great that the Gaffer (Mark Robins) and Adi (Adi Viveash) have given it to them.
“Five of the lads linked-up with the first team on their recent tour to Alicante and we were delighted for them.”
Due to several players training with the first team, there has been a few trialists training with the Under 23s at Ryton.
Tisdale told how they will continue to monitor those players during the coming weeks.
“There is still a lot that needs tidying up and we’re looking for the lads to be more adaptable and robust.
“In the Under 23s it’s all about development and me and Jason Farndon are looking to help build-up players for the first team.
“We’ve had a few players from Non-League on trial with us and we will continue to monitor them in the coming weeks.”