New St Helens coach Mick Potter will use his club's pre-season training camp in Portugal to integrate more youngsters into his Super League squad.

Potter, who succeeded fellow Australian Daniel Anderson at Knowsley Road in the close season, has inherited a squad boasting only one addition from 2008 and, with half a dozen departures including captain Paul Sculthorpe, knows he will have to rely on the next generation to maintain the club's success.

Anderson blooded teenagers Kyle Eastmond and Gareth Frodsham last season and fellow youngsters Gary Wheeler, Shaun Magennis, Andrew Dixon, Jamie Foster, Andrew Yates, Jamie Ellis and Matty Ashurst have all been given squad numbers for engage Super League XIV.

Potter said: "They're going to have to be used and we're going to have to have a bit of patience with the younger guys in that, if someone makes an error, we understand why.

"I'm very happy with the way the young players are coming through. Certainly they have still got a lot of improvement in them and there will be things we can work on."

Potter will start that work tomorrow when he takes his full squad to Portugal for a week's warm-weather training in preparation for the team's opening match against Warrington on February 13.

"We've got two different groups within the team and we just need to get some interaction there," he said. "That will be one of the things we'll work on in Portugal.

"We'll get an older player with a younger player so they have to talk to one another outside of training.

"I think having them together in a social environment will be a benefit."

Magennis and Frodsham are battling to be fit for the start of the season after undergoing knee and ankle surgery, respectively, but Eastmond is expected to be available after recovering from a shoulder operation.

"Kyle saw the specialist yesterday and got the all-clear," said Potter.

"He'll slowly build the contact work up in Portugal."

Potter will also use the training camp to formulate a captaincy team, with the new coach keen to provide assistance to Keiron Cunningham, who led the team for most of 2008 in the absence of Sculthorpe.

Potter appointed a three-strong captaincy team at Catalans Dragons in 2008 and may introduce a similar arrangement at his new club.

"It will be something we'll discuss with the coaching staff and some of the senior players," he said.

"For me it's not a big issue but it depends on how many minutes Keiron plays each week.

"When you're in the middle, it's nearly impossible to play 80 minutes and you need someone else out there."

St Helens will be without winger Francis Meli in Portugal as he awaits the arrival of his visa following his visit home to New Zealand but new signing Tony Puletua will meet his new team-mates.

The former Penrith Panthers forward, who played alongside Meli for Samoa in the 2008 World Cup, is due to arrive in England tomorrow after also being delayed by red tape and will join up with the Saints squad in Portugal 24 hours later.

Potter was consulted by the Saints board before the signing of Puletua and he is delighted with the acquisition.

"They asked my opinion and I just thought it was naturally a good signing, whether I was there or not," he said.

"He's 115 kilos - that's a big player - and he can carry the ball like it's a tennis ball. He's certainly got some skill as well as power, size and strength."