And since their restart after the Christmas period, results have been coming. Three wins from three Professional Development League fixtures, a space booked in the Berks & Bucks Cup semi-final, and a narrow extra-time defeat in the Premier League Cup after a terrific performance against Arsenal. On Tuesday, a group that included several Under-18s held an experienced Luton side to a goalless draw in a friendly at Bearwood.

Winning isn’t everything in development football… but it certainly helps the process!

“You learn things from every game… you learn when you lose, but you learn more when you win,” Noel continued.

“And things sink in a lot quicker when you’re winning. If you’re losing every week, it’s not a great learning curve – you can only learn so much from losses. And if you’re losing constantly, it’s hard to get the right mindset to learn and the thick skin that you need at a young age.

“I want our boys to go out with a plan and know how to win. So it’s important that we reiterate that, because these boys are looking to take their next step into ‘winning football’, where it’s a results-based business any way that you look at it.

“So you have to learn how to win in any circumstance – whether that’s when you’re not playing great and you have to grind it out, or you’re playing some good football and getting into the right areas and taking those chances. That’s coupled with the fundamentals of hard work, doing your job for the team in and out of possession.

“These things sink in over the course of the year. We get a new crop of players each year and we recruit new players into the group… and then we start again. But by the winter months, you have a settled identity and you’re in the mood of trusting that they know what they’re doing, and it’s down to them to go and perform, with a few pointers along the way.

“Plus if you’re winning games, more scouts are coming in to have a look at you – whether that’s other professional clubs having a look, or non-League clubs or lower-league sides seeing whether you could go in and do a job on loan for them.

“Different people want different things, but first and foremost, you have to be able to sacrifice yourself for the team. You have to be able to run yourself into the ground for this football club.”

‘There’s no shortcuts!’ – Noel on the journey to senior football…