Sean Wood said that there is a clear pathway from the academy into the senior side at Swindon Town which is helping them to thrive.

Botan Ameen, Ant McCormick, Dani Gonzalez, and Owen Foye have all made their senior debuts this season as the academy has continued to thrive.

Wood said that the pathway at the club has been made clear in the last two seasons and has enabled them to help give players even better opportunities to develop.

He said: “A big part of the whole academy [is young players getting an opportunity] from under-nines to under-18s, the pathway is there.

“We have got players coming through in every age group and they are getting these experiences in extra and challenging environments that they need to take them to the next level.

“All of our under-18s have trained with the first team at some stage and that transition back is important, so we are making sure that they work with player care and we do things right for them.

“We are making sure that things are working in the right direction and we give the support to each boy and they are working hard day in, day out then they get more of these opportunities as the season goes on.

“Already this season there have been lots of games played for our first and second years in a variety of different cup competitions.”

Ian Holloway has repeatedly spoken about his excitement surrounding the youth side and Wood said that that was very important.

He said: “It is brilliant for us [to have a manager like him], it makes us understand and know that there is a pathway there.

“Sometimes you can do as much work as you can in the academy and then the opportunities can be down to the first team staff and the first team environment.

“We know that there are opportunities for the boys; they have to earn them and put in good performances on challenging nights like tonight [against Gillingham in the FA Youth Cup] and turn up tomorrow for recovery and education and then turn up again when we go to Bournemouth.

“We are making sure that they are working hard day in, day out and then I know that he [Holloway] was watching the game tonight and Marcus [Bignot] was watching the game, unfortunately, he couldn’t make it here.

“There is a genuine interest in what is coming through and that should be inspiring for everybody.”