Pressing and covering session: defending in small numbers

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - Mar 23, 2026

Session intentions

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

This session will help players:

develop their tackling skills
work on their ability to press and cover with their teammates
transition quickly after regaining 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.

50x40-yard pitch

12 players

Mini-goals

Flat cones

Spots/flat markers

Bibs

Week five: defending in small numbers

Small-sided games: Create parallel 20x15-yard pitches. Pitch one: if teams win the ball in their opponent’s half and score they get three goals. Pitch two: if a team wins the ball and scores from the counter-attack, they get three goals. Pitch three: teams get three goals for keeping a clean sheet.
React and press: Split your pitches in half and have two mini-goals at one end of each pitch for this 1v1 activity. The defender stands in between the goals with the attacker opposite. Player's exchange passes before the attacker decides when to go for goal. The defender tries to stop them.
Press to breakout: Extend your original pitches by five yards. Put two mini-goals at one end. Section off a third of the pitch for a 2v2 area. At the goal side, create a small area for the keeper – or last defender. This creates a larger area for the breakout zone where there’s another defender.
Two attackers try to win the ball from two defenders. If they do, the attackers breakout to face the defender in the next area. They combine to get into the next zone to try to score. Defenders must use their emergency defending skills to stop them. Rotate players so they get a go at all roles.
Defend for glory: Put a goal or mini-goals at each end of your area. Split the pitch into thirds. Teams get three points if they score after winning the ball in their defensive third, two points if they do that from the middle third, and one point if they do that from their attacking third.

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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:

introduce a pass limit in 'react and press' so the defender has a better idea of when the attacker may go for goal
only allow one attacker to breakout to make it a 1v1 in ‘press to breakout’
reduce the size of the pitch for the ‘defend for glory’ game.

Make it harder

To make this session harder, you could:

increase the size of the areas for the small-sided game arrival activity
in 'react and press', bring the attacker closer to the goals. This gives the defender less time to react and press the ball before the attacker scores.

Coaching points

Ask your players to make good contact on the ball and to think about the best way to go about doing this when challenging.

Encourage your players to stay in the duel, even if the attacker gets past them. It’s important that they recover to help their teammates.

When your players win the ball cleanly, encourage them to start a counter-attack. If they have space, encourage them to drive forwards with the ball. If they are under pressure, encourage them to look for a teammate who might be in space.

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.