Mullen named a squad of 14, with a further two players to be added before the end of September, the young Reds' roster for 2010/11 comprising of eight new faces, while there are six players back again after they were part of the squad last season.

Having undergone the process of narrowing the field of prospective players down to a final squad, Mullen admitted the task is becoming more difficult as each year passes, due to the increasing amount of emerging talent coming through in the state's local leagues.

"It was extremely tough and to be honest it's getting tougher every year," Mullen said.

"There is a myriad of good players in South Australia out there that we could bring into the squad, but unfortunately only being able to pick 14 outfield players, it's impossible to give everyone a NYL agreement.

"This is the worse part of my job. The hardest part is telling a boy that he's not going to be able to play and train throughout the summer with us, and it's a shame because some of these boys have certainly got the potential to go to a higher level in the right environment."

United's Youth Team has gone largely under the radar in the lead up to season three of the National Youth League, Mullen stating a number of reasons which have contributed to the squad assembling so late.

"It has been a bit interrupted due to a few factors, one being the inclement weather that we've had, it hasn't allowed us to have the amount of trainings we've been able to have in the past due to all of the wet weather and availability of grounds, so that has had an impact on our preparations," Mullen said.

"Also with a number of players featuring in local finals, we haven't had access to those players in fairness to their clubs, and we've respected that with the clubs, so it has only been the first time this week, on Monday, that we've actually had the whole squad together."

With the team only officially coming all together on the eve of the young Reds' first game of the season, Mullen says it will take time for the group to gel.

However, he is confident the limited preparation will not affect what he believes is the underlying objective of what the National Youth League is about, which is to groom and develop players into possibly becoming professional footballers in the future.

"I think it's going to take some time, there's no doubt," Mullen said.

"The purpose of the Youth League is to give them training throughout the whole of the summer and matches, so even though we certainly want to do well and win games, it's more about giving them the opportunity to train and to play, and try to develop the players further so they can hopefully have a chance to transition to a professional contract one day."

The young Reds are quietly confident ahead of their opening match against Perth Glory Youth on Friday, and despite heading into what will be his third season as United's Youth Coach, Mullen is as excited as ever about the challenges ahead.

"We're looking forward to a good season, what we've lacked in preparation I have certainly seen in the players that they have got the endeavour and the will and want to learn, so it looks as though I'm very fortunate again to have some good tools to be able to work with and I'm looking forward to another good year," Mullen said.

United's most experienced Youth League campaigner, midfielder Matthew Mullen, will captain the side, the young Reds to have their final training run tonight before taking on the Glory Youth at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday afternoon in Week 2 of the season. United's Youth Team had the bye in Week 1.

The National Youth League match will be played as a curtain raiser to the Hyundai A-League encounter between the two sides. Kick-Off is at 4.45pm (ACST).

Adelaide United FC 2010/11 Youth Squad

Name (position, club)

Nick Munro (goalkeeper - SASI)

Luke Ostbye (goalkeeper - Adelaide City)

Jordon Elsey (defender - SASI)

Perry Mitris (defender - MetroStars)

Daniel Scordo (defender - Raiders)

Jackson Groves (midfielder - MetroStars)

Matt Mullen (midfielder - Para Hills)

Mitch Nicholson (midfielder - Blue Eagles)

Brett Rayner (midfielder - Adelaide Galaxy)

Jordan Spadevecchia (midfielder - Western Strikers)

Alan Welsh (midfielder - SASI)

Liam Wooding (midfielder - Adelaide Galaxy)

Kym Harris (striker - Blue Eagles)

Evan Kostopolous (striker -Cobras)

* Two players to be added