REDFEARN LAYING DOWN PLANS

REDFEARN LAYING DOWN PLANS

United head coach on a positive first week of the international break...

United head coach Neil Redfearn says the first week of the international break was a beneficial one as it enabled him to lay down a number of markers on the training field.

Redfearn’s side travel to Blackburn on Saturday and are looking to pick up where they left off prior to the two weeks off from Championship football, beating Blackpool 3-1 at Elland Road.

Despite his side looking to be gaining some momentum, the break came at a good point for Redfearn as he hoped that time with the squad at Thorp Arch would allow him to truly implement more of his methods.

"It was a good week for us," he said. "We worked hard on the training ground – we’re starting to put the things in place that we want to put in.

"The lads have really taken it on board well.

"I think the good thing is that it’s given us chance to settle things down.

"We’ve come off the back of a difficult week of three tough games; games that we had to get results in because we’d been on an indifferent run for whatever reason."

United entered the break having played three times in the space of the last seven days, one of the reasons why it was welcomed by the head coach. 

"They have a little bit of a breather as well, it’s important that they get chance to get their legs up. They’d had a tough week," said Redfearn.

"Last week was important in that progress, we laid a lot of markers down and got them back in good habits and back to the level we needed to get them at.

"We worked on the tempo at which they needed to train and about the ethics of dealing with the ball and being able to play with the ball, trusting themselves not to make mistakes and playing in tight areas.

"So we’re getting all those messages back across and from that end it was a really good week."

Tommaso Bianchi limped off during the second half against Blackpool but Redfearn allayed any fears of an injury-lay off for the midfielder.

"He’s been back training again, it was just a whack on his shin," he said.

"He’s back in full training again so it’s not a problem."

X