Walsall Academy boss Miguel Llera is looking forward to a busy week and a return to action for the first time since before Christmas.
The Under 18s were due to play Shrewsbury Town at the weekend but the game was postponed.
Llera will take charge of Walsall's Reserves as they travel to Scunthorpe United on Wednesday afternoon in the Central League before the Under 18s face a trip to Huddersfield Town on Saturday in the knockout stages of the EFL Youth Alliance Cup.
The Academy boss is looking forward to the challenge and sees both matches as a great opportunity for his players.
“It’s a big opportunity because we want to impress the first team staff and the first team manager," Llera said.
“Every Under 23s match is a big opportunity for them to impress and show that they deserve a pro-contract. The time is getting closer and closer for the club to make a decision on them so they will have this opportunity and every game that they play is crucial.”
The EFL Youth Alliance Cup takes centre stage on Saturday as the Saddlers travel to Huddersfield and Llera is expecting a difficult game but insists his team will be going there with the right intentions.
“It’s a good opportunity to go through to the next round of a competition, we are going there with good intentions and try and get to the next round.
“It’s always difficult because Huddersfield are very technical so it will be a tough game against a big club but we’re looking forward to it.
“The lads have been training during the Christmas period. They came back on the 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st to train. They then had a break until the 4th and last week was like normal for us except we had to cancel the game against Shrewsbury Town last Saturday but the lads are ready to compete.”