AFTER returning to his old stomping ground, Alan McLoughlin is aiming to help the next generation of talent at Swindon Town spread their wings.

The former Republic of Ireland international, who scored the goal against Sunderland that won Town the Division Two play-off final in 1990, is back at SN1 as lead development coach and will be working with youngsters between the U13 and U16 age groups as they attempt to progress to Scott Lindsey’s U18s.

McLoughlin, who left his position as first-team coach at Portsmouth in December last year, where he was also previously an academy coach, says that he hopes to add ‘something different’ to the youth coaching mix in his work alongside academy manager Jeremy Newton.

“Jeremy spoke to me a few weeks ago and I’ve joined as lead development coach. We were up at Man City with the U13s (last week) and then Mark (Cooper) was nice enough to let us sit by the bench for the game at Oldham,” said McLoughlin, who made 136 appearances during his time at the County Ground.

“It’s nice to be back at the club. I can’t say too much about leaving Portsmouth because that’s still being dealt with by the LMA (League Managers Association) but the terms of my contract allow me to go and work with someone else.

“It takes a little bit of time to get to know all the kids and I’ve probably already called a few of them by the wrong name already.

“I’m not going to come in and tell people how to do things. I’m just hoping to add something new to the mix.

“I want to try and get the players ready for the demands of being a professional footballer - that’s mentally, physically, psychologically.

“The club has got a great academy, that plays a good style of football. Hopefully, when those players move on to Scott and become scholars, he doesn’t have to spend as much time getting them ready and moulding them.

“I was successful in getting five or six players through to the first team at Portsmouth and I like to think that I can do the same thing here.”