Club football may have taken a break over the past couple of weeks, but it couldn't have been a more fruitful period for Michael Beale and the club's U21 contingent.

As a number of players headed out to represent their national teams, those who stayed behind gained invaluable experience training with the remaining senior players at Melwood.

Speaking ahead of Friday night's live Premier League International Cup match with Chelsea, Beale explained how productive a time it has been for his group.

He said: "It's been a fantastic time for the players during this international break. There hasn't been much time together as a group but we see this period as a time for individual learning.

"If the players aren't at Melwood training, they're with their international teammates, so either way they're playing a real high standard of football."

The Reds currently have a number of Academy players out on loan and Beale explained the club's philosophy in comparison to other Barclays Premier League outfits.

He said: "Each club has its own philosophy. Southampton like to keep their players in, as have Manchester United historically, and they've done very well in the U21 league as a result.

"Man City are another club who keep a real core of players in training together every day, perhaps without as much contact with the first team but nevertheless they have created a very good footballing side who are nice to watch.

"As for us, we tend to think the U21 league isn't the next stepping stone to our first team, so sending 13 or 14 players out gives them another challenge.

"Playing in front of big crowds with senior players will get them closer to going full-time at Melwood.

"The boys who are out are experiencing real highs and lows but they're closer to knowing where they are in terms of their development.

"One fantastic thing this week was Joe Maguire. He didn't play on Saturday for Leyton Orient but travelled back up to train with us on the Monday.

"Just talking to him, having only been down there for two weeks but making his league debut, I could see how much he'd matured during that time; so I'm really interested to see where these players' journeys take them."

LFCTV GO subscribers can watch the interview in full now and tune in on Friday evening when we'll have the U21s' match against Chelsea live from 6.30pm.

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