THE new £10.6million Gawthorpe training centre has helped bring Burnley together as a club, according to youth team boss Michael Duff.

Since the facility opened in March the Clarets’ first team, development squad and Under-18s have all been housed under one roof for the first time.

Former defender Duff, who was in charge of the Under-18s for the first time last season, believes that can only help in developing a stronger mentality as a club and giving the youngsters a target to aim for as they seek to progress through the ranks.

In the new training centre, senior pros can mix with first year scholars and it is a far cry from Duff’s time as a player.

Last year Tommy Wood was one of the key players in the Under-18s side that performed so well under him, but Duff admits he didn’t know who he was until he started coaching him despite representing the same club as a player.

“There literally used to be a separate world, not just the Under-18s, it was the whole academy,” he said.

“Tommy Wood, one of our second years, got player of the year last season (2015/16) and, even being a first team player, I didn’t know his name. It’s wrong. He got player of the year so he must’ve been the best player but I didn’t even know his name, nevermind anybody else’s.

“It’s different now. They train indoor in the morning and Tom (Heaton) will stick his head around the corner and have a chat with a couple of the lads. Dean Marney has done the same. They’re building relationships, it’s aspirational.”

Giving youngsters a clear pathway through from youth team to first team was something that Clarets chief Sean Dyche was keen on when he had an input into the plans for the new training centre, and Duff can see it working.

“You train on one pitch, you make the under 23s you train on the next pitch, then it’s up to the first team pitch,” he said.

“At the moment they go in a separate entrance, they use a different staircase to get to the canteen, they sit in a different room, within the canteen, but they know if they make it that changes. They move on, they move in to the first team dressing room, they get in to the first team canteen. There’s definitely a method behind the madness.”

Duff believes the closer access between his youth starlets and the first team can only help bring players through the system.

“I remember when I was a youth team player I used to take snippets off first team players, I had a bit of a laugh with them and it was good with the respect thing as well,” he said.

“The lads need to keep their nose clean. You need to learn to be respectful and polite and well-mannered because they’re in and around first team staff.

“The main thing for me is standards. When they walk in the bootroom the first team boots are spotless. There’s have to be spotless too because they are the tools of their trade. Those core values are the most important things.

“If they see it, watch it and breathe it then hopefully it’s going to become ingrained. If Sean Dyche walks past then you need to hold his eye and say ‘morning gaffer’. They’re just life skills, it’s not about being whether you’re a footballer or not. We’re big on that, which most people should be really.”