A year’s good work for Neil Wood and his Under 23s after promotion

One of the jobs of the midfielders was to spot, and even encourage, the runs of the full-backs, but it required dead-eye precision. It was a task fulfilled to perfection, on occasion, and would leave opposition defences floundering.

“When you think of the midfielders we had in there, we’d got Jimmy Garner, Dylan Levitt and Ethan Galbraith – a good mix of talent as they have all got different things that complement each other so well,” added Wood. “At times, Arnau Puigmal pushed into there as well to add something different as he likes to run forward and attack and scored some goals for himself. With the vision, creativity and range of passes, plus the accuracy, that those lads can play, it was a vital component of the team.”

The tactics were entertaining and effective, and this would continue all the way throughout the campaign.

“I wanted to see the sort of Manchester United traits – really good possession with fast-breaking attacking, creating chances and scoring goals,” Wood explained. “At the same time, being defensively organised and being strong and showing resilience and there is a lot of character in there. We’ve seen that throughout the league programme and definitely during some of the EFL games.

“We were under the cosh in some of those for a fair amount of time, against some strong League One teams, but managed to get results out of those games. I was very pleased with the style we played in and also the organisation, structure and positioning. But it also comes down to the football intelligence of the lads on the field and you can’t take that away from them. There were lots of talented boys out on that pitch.”