Receiving and finishing session: combine to finish

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - May 11, 2026

Session intentions

This is week five of the receiving and finishing to score session programme. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

This session will help players:

learn how to combine with teammates to receive the ball to score
recognise when to shoot or set someone else up to finish
develop decision-making when receiving the ball.

If you're short on time, this programme can be used as it is. But it’s a template you can build on. So, to make the session or programme more effective, adapt it to suit your players and their needs, as well as the numbers and space you have. If you want to skip, repeat or amend individual practices or the whole session – that's fine. It’s up to you how you use this resource.

Any pitch sizes in this programme are shown as how long the pitch is x how wide it is, but these are just suggestions.

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.

If you’re coaching U7s, please note that from the 2026-27 season, changes will be made to the formats to improve the experience young players get across the country. Check out the Future Fit digital content hub to find out more and alter training plans accordingly.

Session setup

Here’s an example setup for this session. But adapt it to suit your team and the space available to you.

Third of a pitch

6-18 players

Mini-goals

Spots/flat markers

Bibs

Combine to finish

Conditioned 3v3s: Set up parallel small pitches for a 3v3 arrival activity. Have a goal at each end. Play for two minutes then rotate players or teams around. Progress this by adding a condition, for example, teams can only score with a one-touch finish, or from the opposition’s half.
Penalty box game: Create a short and wide area with a goal. Have a 4v4 in the middle with four players outside it. Number those players and shout one out. They pass to a middle player then combine to score. The other team can shoot if they win the ball, pass to an outside player and get it back.
Combine to finish: Use the same pitch but add a goal at the other end. Play a 4v4 game but the players on the outside are now bounce players for both teams. Play for three minutes or set a scoring target to reach. The winning side stays on while the other team switches with the bounce players.
Small-sided games: Finish the session with either a game of 5v5 with two bounce players or two 3v3 games. Use a scoring system that rewards players for finishing creatively.

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On the pitch

Wondering what this could look like? Check out the video to see how a coach took this session idea and adapted it for a group of players.

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:

put an outside player either side of the goal in the ‘penalty box game’ to encourage quick, close-range finishing
use the rule that bounce players can’t be tackled or pressured in ‘combine to finish’ or the small-sided games at the end.

Make it harder

To make this session harder, you could:

reduce the area size of your 3v3 pitches, forcing quicker decisions, tighter control and harder finishing opportunities
increase the intensity of the ‘penalty box game’ by introducing a time limit
give bounce players a two-touch limit in the ‘combine to finish’ drill or the small-sided games at the end.