Last Saturday saw us play Watford over at London Colney in our final pre-season game. On the day it was a disappointing performance from the lads, because I think mentally the players did not approach the game in the right way.

Before this set-back we had had a terrific pre-season, with a successful tour in Holland and I think maybe the youngsters got carried away with how well they had done during pre-season and were not as focussed as they should have been.

Despite this I would rather it happened now rather than when we start our league programme on Saturday. It was a wake up call to the lads of how they must approach every game in a professional manner.

A lot of the players were down after that game because for some it was their last chance to secure their place for the start of the season. I am sure some of them will be a bit anxious now as to whether they have done enough to stay in the team.

Today we take on Leeds in our first Academy League game of the season, and it will be important to get a good start in the league as that can fill you with confidence and take the pressure off. Obviously it is a tough start and we will go there to set ourselves out to be very difficult to beat on the day.

I, along with the rest of the Academy, would like to thank the new owners who have paid for us to travel up to Leeds on the Friday ahead of the today's game. It allows the players to prepare correctly for the game and gives them an insight, especially some of the first years, of how the first team prepare for away fixtures.