SHAUN Cooper believes his young charges relish clashes with the bigger academies – with Cherries’ development squad looking to take another scalp of a Category One academy when they host Derby County Friday evening (kick-off 7pm.)

Cherries started their Premier League cup campaign with an outstanding 3-0 victory away at Brighton & Hove Albion, comfortably dispatching a Category One academy.

As such, they top the group ahead of the encounter with Premier League 2 side Derby, who sit bottom of the second tier following relegation from the top-flight on the under-21 game last term.

With competitive games limited due to Cherries’ Category Three academy status, meaning they cannot compete in the Premier League 2, the Premier League cup represents an opportunity for Cooper’s charges to test themselves against some of the best up-and-coming talents in the country.

Despite the perceived underdog status Cherries may carry into games in the competition, Cooper is confident that his side’s work rate and efforts would always leave them well placed to take on any opposition.

The former Cherries midfielder told the Daily Echo: “It's always eleven players on the pitch, anything can happen, but one thing we pride ourselves on is our hard work and our habits which we drum into the players on a daily basis.

“So I think our lads are extremely professional, extremely competitive and they're really sharp on the small details, they're really quick in transition.

“They're really bright at restarts and I think if you can have them underneath everything else that you need to win a football match, it underpins a successful team.

“I think our boys have always done really well against the Cat Ones (Category One academies) because we're willing to outwork, we're willing to outrun and on top of that we've got technically very good, very tactically intelligent footballers.

“So I'm always really excited to see us go up against the Cat Ones - it brings the best out of us.”

With the youth sides usually playing games at Canford Arena, Friday’s cup clash represents a chance for the Vitality Stadium faithful to get a look at potential stars of the future.

“As I said before this competition, we do geta good turnout of supporters and they create a real atmosphere.

“So for where some of the lads are at in their careers, it might be the most supporters they get to play in front of.

“It spurs the lads on and it's always a pleasure playing at the Vitality under the lights, so it's one they will enjoy.”