Brendan Rodgers will take three members of his Development League squad with the first team to Austria tomorrow.
Developing Academy prospects into first team regulars is one of the clear goals of the Celtic boss who himself has came through the ranks from coaching kids at Reading to the Chelsea reserve side and on to manage at Swansea, Liverpool and Celtic.
After a staggered return to training over the last week the intensity will be turned up in Austria as the players go through upto three sessions a day with three friendly matches thrown in as they prepare for the first competitive match of the season away to Linfield.
Rodgers keeps a close eye on what is happening below the first team squad with his influence on Calvin Miller the most obvious example.
After previously playing as a sole striker or support midfielder Rodgers felt that Miller could be most effective as a left-back.
Tackling isn’t the strongest element of Miller’s game but after a couple of Development League outings he made his first team debut in December as a left back against Partick Thistle.
While taking a keen interest in the various levels of the club Rodgers doesn’t view things through rose tinted spectacles.
He was fairly scathing about the performance in the 2-1 win over Sevco in the Glasgow Cup Final for the u-17 side, the 3-0 SFA Youth Cup win for the u-20 side at Hampden a week later was much more to his liking.