Butterfield looking for a response against Chelsea

By SFC Media time Fri 20 Oct Saints v Chelsea

Saints Under-18s are back in action at Staplewood tomorrow, hoping to make better on their previous London tie, after tasting defeat on the road against a buoyant Arsenal outfit last weekend.

Chelsea are the visitors to the south coast in tomorrow's U18s Premier League clash, and Danny Butterfield is confident that the young players returning from various injury lay-offs will help boost his side's chances.

"Hopefully we have a few bodies returning from injury, which will aid team selection," he began.

"I think the lads are still relatively confident, it was a heavy defeat [against Arsenal] but I don't think the scoreline was reflective of the actual performance.

"We were really pleased with the first half, we were on top and controlled possession. But we still aren't converting enough opportunities in to goals."

Despite the unfavourable scoreline last time out, ex-Saints defender Butterfield believes his side have learned valuable lessons, and is keen for his young charges to respond positively against Chelsea.

"The confidence hasn't been dented too much providing there is a response this Saturday against Chelsea. There are things to work on, but we're in a relatively buoyant mood on the back of previous performances.

"Chelsea are always a very athletic and powerful team, with individuals capable of winning games. But we'll concentrate on ourselves and our ability to counteract their strengths."

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