BRADFORD City manager Michael Duff has professed sympathy with his young squad players waiting for their first-team chances at League One level - while telling them to keep their heads down and continue building 'a bank of trust' with senior players and coaching staff.
City have enjoyed another strong, solid start to a season and sit in third spot ahead of Saturday's trip to Oxford United.
They are unbeaten in 10 matches in all competitions and have conceded just one goal in their past seven league games, with Duff and his predecessor Graham Alexander having largely relied on a core of established players.
The likes of Reece Welch, Hayden Matthews, Kieran Morgan and Henry Cartwright are having to wait for their opportunities at league level.
Duff said: “We talked about alignment all the way through (when he took the job).
"I think part of the reason why I was appointed is because there was an alignment of how we see things and the things that I see as non-negotiables in terms of player profiles.
“There's obviously going to be slight differences (with Alexander).
“They (young players) are watching the same games as everyone else. We've been unbeaten for 10 games and there hasn't been a load of need to change.
“We've had quite a few week-to-weeks. There's not been a need to change in terms of fatigue.
“The main thing for young players is you've got to earn a bank of trust with a manager.
“I said it about Humps (Stephen Humphrys) that I need to know what your worst game looks like.
“But sometimes it's hard as a young player. I was a centre-half but you get in the team at right back. Centre midfielders normally get in the team when they're young and their debut is on the right wing.
“Centre forwards are on the wing because the managers want to know what they're getting down the middle of the pitch.
“So with young players, it's just earning that bank of trust which is every day in training, whether it's five minutes, 10 minutes, half an hour or in a (Jersey Mike’s) Trophy game. But they're all opportunities.
“I know what I'm going to get from Matt Pennington, for example, and I think the supporters do.
“He's going to give you this. He can't do this and this, but 100 per cent he's going to give you that, that, that and that. Sometimes with young players, you're not quite sure.
“That's why normally if there's a 32-year-old and a 19-year-old two centre midfielders, and they're both having an iffy game, it's always the 19-year-old that comes off.
“The manager is always going to go for the one that you can trust the most. So that's up to them to try and earn that.
“That's frustrating because you want opportunities, but that's why you have to earn them and you can earn trust while you're working every day.”
Brought in on deadline on a season-long loan from QPR, midfielder Morgan has made just one league appearance so far - from the bench in the win at Luton in September - and was not in the match-day squad in the midweek draw at Burton.
Duff added: “His numbers tell you he's played 50 Championship games. He can handle the football and he knows the level (League One) and the one above.
“It's difficult when I walk in and the team's sitting where they were and on a run that they're in and they've carried it on. But that's the sign of having a good squad.”