Setup: A tight triangle or small square of cones, about 12m a side. Everyone in one small group with one ball. With small numbers you need no lanes and no waiting — one busy grid does it.

How it works: Small numbers make a warm-up easy: everyone is involved every second because there is no crowd to hide in. Start with keep-ball where the group tries to string passes together, one or two defenders working to win it and swapping in fast. Because there are so few players, each of them is constantly passing, moving and defending, which warms the body and the touch at once. Roll the mobility jobs through the breaks — hips, calves, strides. The quiet magic of a small group reveals itself immediately: in a big session a shy player can vanish, but here she is on the ball every few seconds whether she likes it or not, and she quickly likes it.

Setup: A shooting zone with small goals or pole targets and a feeder position. With few players, set two mini-stations a short distance apart and split three or four to each so shots come thick and fast with almost no queue.

How it works: Small numbers mean each player can take three or four times the shots they would in a big group, so this is where a low turnout pays off. Players rotate quickly through a shooting pattern — receive, set the feet, score — with the coach able to give real individual feedback to every single one because there are so few of them. That coaching-per-player ratio is a luxury you never get on a full night, so use it: fix a technique, watch it improve, praise it. Keep both stations flowing and count scores to add a bit of fire. In fourteen minutes every player has had a personal shooting lesson dressed up as a game.

Setup: A small pitch with a small goal at each end, players in pairs. One pair defends and stays on as kingpins while challenger pairs come at them; the rest wait one turn only because the games are short.

How it works: Continuous two-v-two to goals, winner stays on. A pair defends their goal and attacks the other; win the game and you keep the kingpin spot, lose and you swap with the next pair. Because the numbers are small the turnaround is instant and everyone is playing almost constantly, learning to attack and defend as a two — communicating, covering, combining. Keep the games to a single score or ninety seconds so the kingpin crown changes hands often and nobody is stuck watching. The two-v-two is the perfect small-group teacher: nowhere to hide, every decision yours, and a teammate to talk to. Track how long each pair holds the crown for a bit of edge.

Setup: A slightly bigger pitch with gate goals, split into two teams of three (or three-plus-a-rotator with odd numbers). One coach reffing to keep it flowing.

How it works: Finish on the fullest game a small group can play, three-v-three end to end, which happens to be one of the best games in football for developing decision-makers. With only three a side everyone attacks, everyone defends, and every player touches the ball constantly, faces real one-v-one and two-v-one moments, and has to think for herself. Roll the extra player in on the fly with an odd number so nobody sits. Keep the pitch honest — big enough for a proper game, small enough that it never becomes a jog. This is where the whole night lands: a low turnout has just given every player a high-touch, high-decision game they would never get in a crowd.

Setup: Circle up close by the bags — with a small group the cool-down can be a proper conversation, not a shout across a crowd.

How it works: An easy stretch through calves, hamstrings and hips, then enjoy the one thing a small night gives you that a big one cannot — a real chat. Go round and actually talk to each player, because there are few enough to hear every voice. Ask the question, take real answers, and let them feel that the small night was a good night, not a disappointment. Send them off having been properly seen, which on a dark evening when only seven showed up is worth more than any drill.