BRAINTREE Town manager Glen Driver is promising Iron fans that what his squad may lack in experience, his up-and-coming players will more than make up for it in desire and hunger to prove themselves.

Since being appointed as manager at Cressing Road last month, Driver has been working hard to build his first Iron squad and it has taken on a youthful look so far with talented young players such as Tom Richardson, Michael Johnson and Rob Harvey coming in.

Driver said he was looking to add a bit more experience as pre-season continued, but he had no qualms about using young players who were keen to prove themselves in the National League South.

He said: “I like to look at the England team of a few years ago when you had the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand in the side.

“They were all players who were 30-plus and you never really saw young kids coming through in that Wayne Rooney era.

“There were no strike partners who he played alongside who were young.

“But look at what they are doing now having given young players the opportunities.

“These young England players took us to the World Cup semi-finals last year

“The one thing you can’t coach into a player is desire and I say to young players: ‘if you have the desire to play at a level then grasp it’.”

But while he is keen to use young players, Driver added that he was also looking to feed in a few more experienced heads and expected to name a few new additions in the coming weeks.

“We don’t have experience in the camp at the moment, but that will come over the next couple of weeks,” he said. “Sean Bonnett-Johnson is probably the oldest in the squad at the moment at the age of 28.

“The people I’m talking to now will most likely be experienced but we will still probably have one of the youngest squads in the division. However, what we lack in experience, we will have in desire and we will have that in abundance.

“Supporters may have to be patient but what they will see this season is that this side will work as hard as any Braintree side over the last five years or so.

“As hard as the side did under the Cowleys and I know that was a hard-working side.

“It’s going to be a long journey and not an overnight thing but we will work very hard.”