Pressing and covering session: cover and recover

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - Mar 9, 2026

Session intentions

This is week three of the press and cover to defend programme. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

This session will help players:

provide defensive cover for their teammates
anticipate when to move to make interceptions
recover to defend when they lose the ball.

If you're short on time, this structured training programme can be used as it is. Pitch sizes in this programme are shown as how long the pitch is x how wide it is, but these are just suggestions.

To make the programme more effective, adapt it to suit your players, your numbers and the space you have. If you want to skip, repeat or amend these sessions – that's fine. It’s up to you how you use this resource.

If you like this idea, download the session plan and give it a go. And don't forget to share your experience on the England Football Community. We'd love to know how you got on.

Session setup

In our example, this is what we’ve used to set up this session. But adapt it to suit your team and the space available to you.

44x30-yard pitch

13-14 players

Mini-goals

Flat cones

Spots/flat markers

Bibs

Week three: cover and recover

Small-sided games: Create appropriately sized parallel pitches for your numbers and split them into three channels. Players take part in a normal small-sided game. To embed the idea of covering, challenge players to think about how they can use the three channels effectively when they’re defending.
Cover the line: Set up three 20x15-yard pitches with an end line at each end. Create a covering line ten yards out from each end line. Have a 2v2 or 3v3 on each pitch. Teams try to get over their opponent’s end line. When a team’s out of possession they need to have a player on their covering line.
Locked in: Use your whole area. Put a goal at each end and add a halfway line. In this practice, the team on the ball can move anywhere. But the team without it are locked in the half they were in when they lost possession. If they win the ball back, they can then move anywhere to attack and score.
Press for success: Use the same pitch used in the last drill but split it into thirds. If a team wins the ball in their own defensive third and scores, they get one point. If they do that in the middle third, they get two points. If they do that in the attacking third, they get three points.

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On the pitch

Looking for a bit more detail? Check out this video to see what it can look like on the pitch.

Make it easier

Using the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002) can help keep things fun, engaging, and appropriate.

To make this session easier, you could:

allow players to recover into their own half once the opposition get over the halfway line during the locked in game.
add a rule where the in-possession team must play through each third before scoring to increase opportunities to press during defend for glory.

Make it harder

To make this session harder, you could:

have a ‘floating’ player playing for the side in possession to create an overload for defenders to deal with
give teams a time limit to win the ball back when they lose possession, increasing the physical demands on them and the urgency of the press.

Coaching points

Encourage your players to protect the middle of the pitch in the first instance. When the ball is on one side of the pitch, they should move across to that side together as a unit. If your players try to cover the whole pitch, they will leave big gaps for the opposition to play through.

Get players to think about their positioning. Have they got the distance right between themselves, their teammates, and the opposition? They need to have the right distance to offer good covering support but also be in a position where they could engage the opponent.

Get your players to think about how and when to move into the line of the ball or goal.

Encourage your players to look for triggers to press. If the opponent is facing their own goal, takes a heavy touch, or is going to receive a longer, slower, pass, players should try to press. It can help force their opponent backwards or help them win the ball back.

Encourage your players to try to recover as quick as possible once they have lost possession, or when the opposition player beats you.