Mark Kennedy has outlined the importance of coaching within academy set-ups in his career as he prepares his side for the trip to Cheltenham Town on Saturday.
The Imps’ head coach shares a similar pathway into first team management as his opposite number on Saturday, Wade Elliot, and has explained the benefits he believes coaching at U23s level has had.
He said: “As an academy coach you have a great opportunity to make mistakes, learn your role and properly understand what development looks like.
“The best thing I ever did in coaching was going to work in academies and really understand what coaching looks like. It’s taken me ten years to get an opportunity to be a head coach, but if I hadn’t done that, I think my chances of success would have been much less.”
Elliot is a familiar face to Kennedy who expressed his admiration for the work the Robins’ head coach has accomplished.
He added: “I tend not to judge myself against others and we’re happy focussing on where we are at and what we’re doing, but I think Wade has done a brilliant job this year.
“I feel I can recognise the situation he is in as a first-time manager, and he’s been really impressive. They’re just two points behind us in the league, also in the Papa Johns Trophy quarter-finals, and Wade is someone I know from our work in U23 set-ups.
“He’s someone who I highly respect and I’m looking forward to pitching ourselves against each other on Saturday afternoon.”
