'Need to show' - Manchester City and Liverpool…

'Need to show' - Manchester City and Liverpool prospects' education at Bolton Wanderers assessed

Owen Beck believes he and his fellow loanees at Bolton Wanderers must show they can play in League One despite all being at Premier League clubs.

Beck and fellow Liverpool team-mate Conor Bradley are spending the campaign on loan at the Whites. Goalkeeper James Trafford is doing the same from Manchester City, following a successful spell at Wanderers last season.

All three are at top flight clubs and have the ambition to play in the first teams of their respective teams. Bradley, a Northern Ireland international, has done just that last season.

Beck knows he and his fellow top flight loanees must demonstrate their abilities at this level. But he believes the squad is a great one at Wanderers who are all helping one another and believes they have the strength within their ranks to go for promotion this season.

Speaking to the club programme, Beck said: "I feel that's what you want to get out of it as a player and club. I feel experience in the league really does help you progress as a player.

"Me, Con and Traff are all at Premier League clubs but while we're here we all need to show we can play in this league. For a loan to be successful you have to buy into it and concentrate on what the game plan is.

"It's a great group of young lads and the whole squad gets on. I feel the more experienced ones do a good job speaking to the younger ones and giving them information and help as well. It's a great squad and we all bond well.

"We've got a great squad so hopefully we can go for promotion. It's not going to be perfect the whole way through the season for any team.

"I think we've shown we've started to come out the other side now and we'll be back to our best soon. I feel it's a perfect time to get to our best. It's a busy Christmas period and hopefully we can keep picking up points."

The standing that the Whites have with both City and Liverpool in letting them have top young prospects such as the trio is a fact not lost on Whites boss Ian Evatt. He believes all parties are benefitting from the loans and that these players are getting a taste of what is required to play for a big football club and how they deal with that, which they will all need with their future career aspirations in mind.

He said: “That just for me speaks volumes about the work that we’re doing. We’ve gained their trust, we’ve gained their respect and in turn, they’re giving us players like James and Conor and Owen, which is fantastic for us.

“We’re benefitting from that, they’re benefitting from that, so all these relationships, it’s a two-way street. It’s not just them helping us out and giving us players. We’re actually helping them as well by developing these guys, giving them a real taste of what it’s like to play at a big football club.

"The fans play a huge part in that, a huge fanbase which sells out away fixtures, huge crowds at home and if these lads want to have the careers that they’re setting themselves up for, then they need to get used to playing that sort of environment. I think this club is a great platform to provide the experience for that moving forwards.”

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