SWINDON Town manager Richie Wellens says Scott Twine’s loan move to Waterford will help accelerate the young striker’s development.

Twine put pen to paper on a new two-and-a-half-year contract at the Energy Check County Ground on Tuesday.

But following Town’s home win over Forest Green Rovers in League Two that evening, Wellens revealed the 19-year-old would spend the immediate future elsewhere.

The young forward, who has made 19 first-team appearances this season, is to join League of Ireland side Waterford – owned by Town chairman Lee Power – on loan until the summer.

Although there has been no official confirmation of the move from either club, Wellens stated post-match against Forest Green that he expects Twine to feature in Waterford’s home game against Shamrock Rovers on Friday night.

Fellow recent Academy graduates Joe Romanski and Sol Pryce made loan switches to National League South sides Bath City and Dulwich Hamlet respectively in January.

Having already spent a spell at that level with Chippenham Town last season, Wellens wants Twine to challenge himself in a different environment in the hope it will speed up his progression.

“Scott will be loaned out to Waterford so he will go and play,” said Wellens.

“Scott is a difficult one. We have loaned Joe Romanski and Sol Pryce to National League South clubs as we want some older players who have been around the block to beat them up to see how they react and see how they grow from it.

“With Scott, we don’t want that. He is a very good footballer but very under-developed in his physique at present, so we wanted a different environment for him.

“We feel that Waterford – with a good pitch and the way they play football, which is quite technical – will bring him on more with a view to him coming back for pre-season.

“It will make him stronger to get 15 or 20 games behind him, so then he can try to get in our team next season.”

Wellens says Twine has caught the eye ever since his appointment as Town boss back in November, with the former Oldham Athletic manager giving the youngster 11 appearances in that time.

However, Wellens feels Twine is not yet fully equipped to cope with the physical intensity of the bottom tier in the Football League, so an improvement in that regard is the primary reason for his move.

“Since I first came in, Scott has been a very good trainer,” said Wellens.

“It’s just, at this moment in time, he is 19 and, physically, can he deal with the demands at this level week in, week out?

“For me, he can’t, so it is about trying to get him up to that level as quickly as possible.

“There is no point keeping him here, keeping him training but not getting much game time, because then his development will be slow.

“Let’s loan him out and he will be playing at a good level.

“I am hoping he can do well out there and come back a better player for us.”