AS BURNLEY announced the recruitment of 11 new apprentices, director Brendan Flood has stressed there will be a strong emphasis on youth development this season.

The Clarets have welcomed 11 youngsters to the Turf Moor scheme, including three central defenders, three central midfielders, a winger, striker, goalkeeper, full-back and left-back.

And although manager Steve Cotterill has added two foreign faces to his squad over the summer, in the shape of Hungarian Gabor Kiraly and Albanian Besart Berisha, Flood revealed the club would not hesitate in funding the development of the next generation of local players.

Richard Chaplow and Paul Weller are the only big names to have come through the Clarets youth system in the last 10 years, with Chaplow later sold to West Brom for £1.5 million.

But that was a statistic Flood was hoping to change.

He said: "Youth wise, we've got to invest in youth.

"We've got to get a focus towards our youth improvement.

"I think that's all part of the studies we have been doing."

The current crop all signed an initial two-year apprenticeship contract with the club. They will spend three-and-a-half days training and one-and-a-half days at college during the week, with their Youth Alliance games taking place on a Saturday and reserve matches in mid-week.

Head of youth development, Vince Overson, said: "We're delighted to welcome the lads on board. They have all done exceptionally well and deserve the two year contracts because they have worked extremely hard to achieve their goal over the past few years and are a credit to their schools.

"We hope they can all do well for the club."

The news comes hot on the heels of the Clarets reviving their reserve team after scrapping it just 12 months ago.