Teenage full-backs George Smith and James Bree will be given the chance to start the season as first choice players, says Barnsley head coach Lee Johnson.

Right-back Bree, 17, has played 15 games for the first team but missed most of last season with a back injury while fellow academy product George Smith, an 18-year-old left-back, has made 19 appearances. The back-up is injured Callum Evans, George Williams, who has struggled to break into the first team since moving from Conference North side Worcester last season, and another academy graduate Matty Templeton.

Johnson said: "I would like not to have to bring any older full-backs in because I want Juddy (Smith) and James to be our first choice players.  

"James is looking really good going forward but he has just got to improve that physical side. It is taking him a while to adjust to the pace of men's football after his injury. But he'll get there because he's a good player and he's very mature for his age.

"Juddy has come on leaps and bounds. He's physically ready to get up and down the wing. We have got to be careful because people might play on him with diagonal balls.  But his positioning is getting better, his ball manipulation is much better and that's making him more confident. With him it's just the belief.  He's learning that, if we shout at him, it's not because we don't believe him in but because we believe he can reach higher standards."