Gary O'Neil outlines importance of academy pathway for Wolves youngsters

Injury issues and a lack of squad depth has contributed to O’Neil providing increased opportunities to young players during the current campaign.

Five academy products have been presented with senior debuts by O’Neil, while a further 13 have been involved in match day squads across all competitions.

And O’Neil has stressed that it’s important for young players to see a visible pathway from the academy to the first team.

He explained: “The academy is going to play a big part in what we’re trying to do here.

“All the boys know over there, whether you’re training with the under-10s or the under-11s.

“They know that there’s a real good pathway and opportunity to come and have an impact at the club they’re at.”

Tawanda Chirewa was handed his first league start in Wolves’ 2-0 defeat against Arsenal last weekend after cameos from the bench against Brighton, Newcastle, Villa, West Ham and Nottingham Forest respectively.

Nathan Fraser has scored once in nine appearances across all competitions and played a key role from the start in Wolves’ 2-1 victory over Fulham on March 9.

Leon Chiwome played four times prior to his season-ending ankle injury, including back-to-back starts against Villa and Burnley respectively.

Elsewhere, Harvey Griffiths was handed his first team debut in a 5-0 win against Blackpool in the League Cup earlier in the season, while Alfie Pond came on for the final nine minutes in the same game.

Wolves’ previously impressive form under O’Neil has suffered somewhat in recent weeks with a run of seven matches without a win cutting them out of the European qualification race.

While O’Neil would ideally prefer the luxury of selecting his preferred XI, he feels there has been real signs of progression within the young players in the squad.

He said: “So many positives have come out of this season with the work that has been done by everybody, including the part that the young lads have played.

“We spoke about this at the start of the injury issues that we’ve had, that it would present opportunities for academy players.

“Most of them have come through them with real credit. Leon (Chiwome) showed some real good moments up until his injury, Tuwanda (Chirewa) showed some good moments.

“Nathan played a huge part in the home win against Fulham. I don’t what the academy record was like before this season in terms of how many were involved or how many debuts they would’ve had last year.

“But I think it’s been a really good year in that sense. Five first team debuts league and cup, another eight involved in match day squads is a fantastic positive to add to the season so good progression.”