George Honeyman believes Duncan Watmore and Paddy McNair will be key players during the 2017-18 campaign.
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The duo missed the majority of last season due to knee injuries but both have made good progress and they’re currently training hard in Portugal ahead of pre-season.
But although Honeyman is relishing the return of the young duo, he did poke some fun at them.
“It will be a big boost to get Dunc and Paddy back because they’re going to be two big players for us this year, but I just hope they’ve taken enough sun protection out there because that could set them back a couple of weeks.
“Not only Duncan, but Paddy, being a pale Irishman, I do worry about as well!”
He continued: “In all seriousness, though, we have the makings of a really good, youthful team and there’s definitely a feeling amongst the players that we can do something this year.
“We want to bounce straight back and I don’t see any reason why we can’t, but we can’t take anything for granted and we have to earn the right to be back in the Premier League.
“We have a fast start to the season and we have to be ready for it."