He reiterated that his squad was too young and said he had encouraged some players to find new clubs as their opportunities would be limited.
Centre back Daniel Alessi, who was overlooked for youth team defender Pat Langlois against Weston, is understood to be one of those on the outer, although Merrick would not discuss individual players.
“I’m not overly happy yet with the mix in the squad. We’ve got probably 15 players in our squad that are under the age of 24 with not a lot of experience behind them. We’ve got nine under-20s, which is too many.
“It’s really about they fast-track forward quickly or in some cases we’ll have to bring other players in, but we’re moving in the right direction with the signings we’ve made.
“I just think that I have to be honest right from the start of their opportunity to play, and there are some players I’ve had a fairly frank discussion with, and they are contracted, so if they want to stay with the club, that’s fine, but I would think it’s a key age group, below the age of 24, to play regular football, and if there’s an opportunity elsewhere, there’s two or three boys I wouldn’t prevent.
“And that’s not that they’re not good players; it’s just that we’ve got too many of them and we’ve got senior players in their positions so it’s going to be unlikely they play.”
Originally Posted by Grimario
