PHILLISKIRK PLEASED WITH U18S’ SEASON TO DATE

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Manager talks results, development, decisions and more

2025-03-21T14:14:20.957Z

PHILLISKIRK PLEASED WITH U18S’ SEASON TO DATE

Manager talks results, development, decisions and more

2025-03-21T14:14:20.957Z

Manager talks results, development, decisions and more

With just eight Professional Development League matches to go, Burnley U18s are in a strong position at the top of the North section table.

The young Clarets have earned 54 points from their 23 matches to date, leaving them eight points clear of 2nd-placed Sheffield Wednesday who have played one game more.

Manager Tony Philliskirk is of course pleased with the way the campaign has gone but, when sitting down with the Club website, was keen to acknowledge that nothing has been won yet.

“Up until now it’s been a successful season and I’m really hoping that we can see it through,” he said.

“It was a mixed start for various reasons. You’re finding what system’s going to suit, as well as trying to integrate the principles by which the first team and U21s play.

“You’re also chopping and changing the team because you’re trying to give players opportunities.

“In the last two or three months a lot of things have fallen into place, and the lads have carried over things that we’ve been working on the training ground.

“First and foremost, for a while now their application and attitude has been outstanding.

“You talk about tactics, systems and techniques – if the attitude and application isn’t 100% you can fall flat.

“All the players, particularly the second year group but supplemented by the first years, have been outstanding in the last few months.“

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As he mentions, the U18s’ current run of form is nothing short of impressive whichever way you look at it.

They have won their last nine league games and are unbeaten in 12. Additionally, before Saturday's 5-2 victory over Sheffield United they had kept five straight clean sheets. In that unbeaten run of 12, they have conceded just six goals.

Those stats mean that the Clarets also have the best defensive record in the league and, remarkably, their 65 goals scored leaves them top of the pile at the other end of the pitch too.

“At the start of the season you’re always aiming to do well,” Philliskirk continued.

“We knew that the second-year group was decent because a lot of them played last year as first years.

“Sometimes we got beat because they weren’t there physically, but we knew we were preparing them for this season.

“That’s what youth football’s like – it can often go in cycles.

“If you look at the first team, it’s been well documented that the bedrock of every good team is a good defence.

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“We’ve got the best record in the league and we’ve had different players playing too – every one of them has done well.

“We do a lot of work on the defensive aspect and the off the ball stuff in training and the lads have really bought into that.

“It’s not just the back lads either, as the defending from the front has been great as well.”

Last weekend the team beat Barnsley 2-0 on the training pitches next to Oakwell Stadium.

After Kian McMahon-Brown opened the scoring five minutes into the second half, substitute Braidin Derbyshire made sure of the three points.

“Before the game some of the lads got the sad news that they wouldn’t be staying with us next season,” Philliskirk finished.

“It’s the week of the season that I still find really hard. You get attached to the lads and they’re a great bunch, but that’s the nature of football.

“It was really pleasing to me that we went to Barnsley, which is notoriously a really tough place to go and play.

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“Three of them played to put themselves in the shop window and were absolutely outstanding.

“It’s a little bit difficult now in that we’ll probably start losing some of the players that have contributed to the team massively this season.

“Other players are going to have to come in to replace them, and in my opinion the U17s have been okay but have still got work to do to catch up to the U18s

“Fortunately we’ve given ourselves a little bit of a buffer at the top of the league and I think that if we can win three or four more games, we might win the title.

“That was the aim at the start of the season and if we do that we’ll enter the play-offs, where anything can happen.”

Philliskirk’s team are next in action on Tuesday afternoon, when they travel to 10th-placed Peterborough United's Idverde Training Ground for a 1pm kick-off.

He’ll be without first-year scholars Troy Savage and Kian McMahon-Brown, who are currently away with Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland U17s respectively for UEFA Euro Elite Round qualifiers.

After that, the young Clarets are back on home soil when Millwall visit Lancashire on Saturday 29th March. Kick-off is 11am and be sure to keep an eye on X @ClaretsAcademy for updates.