BURTON Albion's first team squad is young, hungry and bursting with energy - and that's the way the gaffer wants it.
After bringing a host of young up and coming players to the Pirelli Stadium, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink says he has the right blend for Burton Albion's debut in League One."Our DNA is young, hungry, want to learn, want to take the club forward - that's what the club stands for.
"It's going to be a long season and we want to compete in every competition. So we need a good strong, squad.
"It's very important if you are an energetic, young club to show that on the pitch as well.Â
"We have brought down the average age on purpose. We have a lot of players in their early 20s. We are not looking at players in their 30s coming out of the Premiership, that's not us.Â
"We have a lot of young players, balanced with some experience.Â
"We are a young club; we have not been as long in existence as a lot of other clubs. We have not been long in the pro league and we have a lot of young supporters who have come up with the club.Â
"We want to relate that back on the pitch and also a football club like that has to try and develop the players so that they are an asset to the club. We try to make players better. Players in their 30s we might make better but they are not going to attract the fuller market. It's very important the club is healthy in that manner and that is part of my job."
The Brewers kick off the season at home to Scunthorpe tomorrow (3pm) but Hasselbaink is making no predictions for the campaign as a whole.
He says: "We have to take it one game at a time. That's what we are concentrating on, starting against Scunthorpe. We have to be competitive, push as much as possible and try to get as many points on board as we can.
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"It's never easy to come out of a league and make a step up. You have to respect how everybody else plays and every game will be a battle. Maybe the playing style will be a bit different to League Two but the competition and the battles will be the same."