Southampton midfielder Will Smallbone has hailed James Ward-Prowse as his inspiration for making the first-team.
Smallbone says that he, and the other academy players, have looked at Ward-Prowse and seen what he has been able to achieve in the first-team – giving him the belief to do the same.
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He says that Callum Slattery, Jake Vokins and Michael Obafemi have all taken inspiration from previous academy graduates, with all of them having played for the first-team in the last 12 months.
Smallbone was handed his Premier League debut against Aston Villa last weekend. Ralph Hasenhuttl opted to start Smallbone in central midfield alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, with the youngster playing 80 minutes of the 2-0 win.
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His comments show why Southampton have a brilliant academy at Premier League level. They have been able to bring through a number of stars through their academy set-up, with the likes of Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Calum Chambers and Gareth Bale all coming from St. Mary’s before moving on to top-six clubs.
And, as Smallbone says, Ward-Prowse is a current star from the academy in Southampton’s first-team. The Englishman has made 267 first-team appearances for Southampton since breaking through in 2011, scoring 23 goals in that time.
This not only shows that the academy facilities and coaches are excellent, but it also shows a willingness from the club to pick managers who want to give young players a chance. This helps to inspire the players playing in the academy, as they know that they will be given opportunities in the first-team if they can show they are good enough to compete, as Smallbone has.
Smallbone was inspired by Ward-Prowse getting his chance in the team and excelling, so hopefully, he will be able to follow in his footsteps and become a key player for the Saints going forward. If Smallbone can do that, then he could be an inspiration for the next generation of young stars looking to make it in the professional game.
