Swindon Town under-18s manager Sean Wood said that the homegrown players progressing into the academy is making the whole academy proud.

Under-18 players Joel McGregor and Harley Hunt have both been handed their first league starts in the last two games and performed very well as they look to break into the senior set-up.

Wood said that he was very proud to see those two players in the senior side and was pleased to see some of the stars of the FA Youth Cup run making that step.

Speaking to club media, he said: “It is good exposure for the academy, the fans getting to see our young players in the first-team environment, not just what they do in the under-18s games and in the FA Youth Cup.

“Now it is about them making their next step into the first team, staying around it and picking up more and more appearances.

“Joel has been on the pitch a few times, got his first league start, and now it is about pushing on from there and being around it a little bit more.

“Everyone at the academy is so proud that he is able to stay around it.

“It was a brilliant achievement [for Hunt as well], at 16 years old to play in any league game is massive and he will learn loads from that.

“Whether he is around our environment or with the first team, he is always learning because he is so young, sometimes when you look at his stature you think he is a lot older than he actually is.”

This has been a banner year for the academy on multiple fronts and Wood said that players having an impact at first-team level shows the progress they are making.

He said: “It was another proud moment for the academy, what we are about is making sure that we develop good people and good players.

“Now we are getting good exposure with players from the FA Youth Cup now playing in our first team, everybody should be really proud of that and all the local supporters should get behind our young players.

“I think it was our sixth league debut this year, so as a whole, the season has been unbelievable.

“It has been a whirlwind at times, but in terms of a pathway of players coming through and what we are about we have had a wide spectrum of opportunity that will hold them in good stead going forward.”