Jewell: Youngsters Could Get Their Chance - Ipswich Town News

Town manager Paul Jewell says he’d like to see one or two youngsters progress from the academy into the first team picture before the end of the season. Schoolboy Byron Lawrence, 15, was again training with the senior squad at Playford Road yesterday.

Jewell says while he wants to see younger players push into his team, you have to pick the correct moment to introduce them: "It’s a difficult one because you want to put youngsters in at the right time.

"I think we’ve got some good young kids. We’ve got Byron Lawrence training with us this morning, he got permission to get the day off school, we think he’s going to be a real prospect.

"You’d like, before the end of the season, to try and give one or two youngsters a chance. I’m looking at the bigger picture and the bigger picture is that we need to either bring through or bring in some young players. That is the way forward.”

Ultimately, building a team is about getting the right balance between experience and youth: "I think we’ve got good players here, good experienced players, who have been around the block, but who at the minute are not playing to their ability.

"But it wasn’t just the older players who had a poor game on Tuesday, everyone had a poor game on Tuesday.

"We are an oldish team, there’s no getting away from it, but experience is sometimes key, however, sometimes getting a blend is the difficult thing about it.

"I know exactly what we’ll need in the coming months and coming seasons and that’s a blend of youth and experience."

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