First-Team Football Is Goal For Young Clarets

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Loan moves in the pipeline as youngsters look to keep growing

2020-11-10T14:58:22.667Z

First-Team Football Is Goal For Young Clarets

Loan moves in the pipeline as youngsters look to keep growing

2020-11-10T14:58:22.667Z

Loan moves in the pipeline as youngsters look to keep growing

The Clarets hope a crop of their young players will be playing first-team football again come January.

Josh Benson and Anthony Glennon saw successful loan spells at Grimsby Town cut short by the Covid-enforced curtailment of last season, while striker Rob Harker was gaining senior experience in the National League at Hartlepool United.

Midfield man Benson and full-back Glennon have since made their first-team debuts for the Clarets, along with teenage defender Bobby Thomas, who started Burnley’s EFL Cup win at Millwall in September.

The trio – along with Harker – returned to Under-23 duty to help the Clarets draw 2-2 with Aston Villa at Leyland on Monday afternoon.

U23S PREVIEW: Leeds United v Burnley - Image 2

And they are now set for a sustained period of action at PL2 level ahead of the opening of the January transfer window.

“We are trying to get them a real run of games before we can get them out on loan again in January, to get them some fitness and build some real game-time,” said Under-23s’ boss Steve Stone.

“Hopefully some of the scouts are out there watching and if they push hard enough, they could be around our first team again.

“That’s the benefit of Burnley for the young guys. You’re never too far away from the first team or going out on loan to get some good experience.

“We’re about developing and pushing people through at this club and not trying to stockpile players and hinder them.

“We’re looking for players to come through. That’s the plan for them and hopefully the next lot can come through underneath them.”

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The presence of four of the Clarets’ more senior performers helped Stone’s side turn in arguably their best performance of the season as Joel Mumbongo’s injury-time goal earned a point against Villa.

Burnley - who also have Adam Phillips and Ryan Cooney currently on loan at Morecambe and Jordan Cropper playing at Chesterfield - remain at the foot of PL2 but will be looking to start climbing the Division Two table in the coming weeks, with a visit from second-bottom Fulham next up on 23 November.

And Stone believes the mix of players at his disposal – following absences around Covid and first-team commitments – will help everyone.

He added: “We are looking for a group to be out on loan. We are also looking for a group who are still around to help the first-team training and to try and push to get into that first-team squad.

First-Team Football Is Goal For Young Clarets - Image 3

“Then, when they drop into us it strengthens us to help the younger ones in the team, like your Max (Thompson) and Riccos (Lewis Richardson) who need a bit of strength around them.

“They can’t do it all on their own because if you’re too young and too frail you end up not developing them properly.

“So we need a little bit of strength around them, although I don’t want to go strong.

“It was nice we had a bit of strength there against Villa to help some of the younger boys and help develop them and their careers, because ultimately that’s what this is all about.

“The likes of Josh and Glenno have been out on loan and they bring that back to this level and you can tell at times.”