Mark Delaney is looking for Aston Villa Under-23s to show another side to their game against Wolves on Friday afternoon.
The Young Lions have been full of firepower going forward but conceding goals has been their Achilles heel since the turn of the year, with 19 goals shipped in seven Premier League 2 games.
Their strengths and weaknesses were exemplified by a 4-3 loss to Stoke City last time out, and Delaney is looking for improvements against their Midlands rivals.
When asked his message to the team ahead of the game, he said: “Play with energy, play with confidence, play the way Villa play.
“Over the season, the messages have also been to make sure we look at the other side of the game where we need to be a lot stronger, a lot more compact.
“For all our good play, we can’t be conceding two or three goals. The message hasn’t quite got through yet, but they’re still young and they want that thought of creating and scoring goals.
“You can see that throughout the year. Some of their play has been fantastic, but the message has been if we can’t score two or three make sure we’re not conceding two or three as well.
“In the long-term, I think those messages will stick.”
Eighth place Villa have the perfect opportunity to kickstart a late charge for the play-offs against Wolves, who are four points above them and occupy the last play-off spot.
They’ll also be boosted by memories of a 3-1 win against the same opposition earlier in the season, and Delaney is hopeful they can find a way to win.
“They’re in a good vein of form, in the top five and they’ve had a good season. We’re concentrating on ourselves,” he said.
“If we do everything right, and our players are in the right place mentally when we kick-off, I’m confident that we’ll have a positive performance and result.
“We know what Wolves are about, but we’re very much concentrating on what we can do.”
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