Dave Watson encouraged by new young talent at Latics

Dave Watson is hoping the new crop of young players in the Youth Team can follow in the footsteps of some of his previous graduates and prove themselves at a senior level at Wigan Athletic.

Watson believes the club provide excellent development opportunities for young players and that the talent he is currently working with has every chance of becoming professional players;

"We've had plenty of players go on to be involved with the senior squads recently, so as far as bringing young players through the ranks it's been fantastic, and looking long-term if we can succeed in bringing just one player through it will be considered a huge success," said Watson.

"That's a real positive about this club, young lads will always be given the chance to prove themselves. If they do well at this level they're given the opportunity at Reserve level where the Manager and coaches regularly monitor the progress being made."

The Youth Team coach has been encouraged by the start the new faces at the club have made, impressed with their attitude and confident of a bright future;

He said; "This year we're looking at introducing around nine First-Year lads to the squad, which is an awful lot.

"So it will be a young side and it will be a big learning curve for them this year, but come this time next year the strength of the squad will have improved considerably.

"The attitude from the new lads has been absolutely fantastic, they're dedicated and talented players who after a few weeks of working with I'm confident will become good players.

"We just want to make sure they're doing the simple things right. Things like a simple five-yard pass that some kids may think easy isn't, you have to stay switched on and make sure you don't mess that sort of thing up, which can happen.

"We work on the basics first of all and once they've got that right we can move onto the next stage of their development."