THE head of Burnley’s development squad admits the Clarets academy is ‘there to be shot at’ until they produce a first-team player, but he is hopeful of breaking the duck soon.

Michael Jolley saw Burnley’s Under-21 side produce some good results last season, with victories over Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton, but he admits producing players ready to make the jump to Sean Dyche’s side is the ultimate aim.

Jay Rodriguez was the last academy graduate to make the step up to first team regular in the 2008/09 season, but despite that Jolley, who recently passed his UEFA Pro Licence course, believes progress has been made at Gawthorpe, with the quality of players coming through the system on the rise.

“Until we get a player into the first team we are there to be shot at in terms of people saying it’s not served it’s purpose, but over the last couple of years we have made significant progress,” said Jolley, senior professional development phase coach at Turf Moor.

“The quality of player is better than it was two years ago, we’ve got more players training as part of the first team group, I think the manager believes in what we’re doing and has got an influence in how we operate.”

Although results from the development squad are generally good, Jolley said that is not always the clearest indicator of the progress being made at under-21 level.

“The results of the team are generally positive although it very much depends on the type of team we can field and the type of team the opponent can field,” he explains.

“If we’ve got a youth team playing against a team of senior pros, like we did at Sunderland, it makes it difficult, but vice versa sometimes our gaffer will throw some of our senior lads in because they need a game and we might be playing against a young team, so it’s difficult for people to get a good barometer of how we’re progressing.”

Several academy graduates got a taste of Football League action in the 2015/16 season, something that Jolley believes will have benefited their progress.

Cameron Dummigan and Tom Anderson played League One football for Oldham and Chesterfield respectively, while Luke Hendrie played fourth tier football at Hartlepool and York City and Luke Conlan represented Morecambe, a move he has now made permanent.

Striker Ntumba Massanka, whose goalscoring exploits at youth level have caught the eye, also had his first taste of competitive league action, but the 19-year-old’s spell at York saw him play just three times, with only one start.

“We’ve certainly got a better footprint in terms of Football League loans,” said Jolley. “We had two in League One last year with Tom Anderson and Cameron Dummigan, we had a couple in League Two with Luke Hendrie and Luke Conlan, Ntumba got his first one although that wasn’t a particular success, and we’ve got lads playing regularly in the Conference.

“We’re going to continue to do that and balance that off against getting a player into the first team.”

Jolley added: “The under-21 football gets criticised a lot and I understand that. To bring some balance to it there are some very good players at that level and some very good games.

“That said there’s no doubt playing in league football against professional players who have been around the block and are streetwise and know the game is a fantastic way to develop young players.

“We think there’s a balance to it. Some time spent with us and learning how we want to play and operate and being around our first team, balance off with the right loan experience, is a good way of doing it.

“I think Tom, Cameron and Luke have benefited from that experience.”