SWINDON Town have confirmed the capture of 17-year-old Ellis Iandolo.

The youngster, who has had spells with Gillingham and Maidstone, impressed in his pre-season substitute appearances against Petersfield and Aston Villa.

Iandolo was taken on trial after scoring three goals against Swindon 18s this summer while playing for Soccer Elite FA.

During a phone-in on BBC Wiltshire last night, Town manager Mark Cooper confirmed the move, before going on to explain the difficulties of judging trialists in such a short period of time.

“Ellis Iandolo has agreed to sign a deal with us,” said the County Ground boss.

“He is 17, so he is going to be a young pro and a lot of development to come from him.

“I think a lot of the time the trialists are getting 20 minutes or half an hour, so you probably are judging them more on the training time.

“I think the way we look at the boys is can they improve us somewhere along the line?

“There is no point taking them if they are going to block up the path of the young players we have coming through the academy.

“They have to be better than or as good as what we have got.”

Former Broadfields United and Edgware Town wide man James Brophy again came off the bench against Liverpool, and also looks to have done enough to secure himself a deal.

“He’s done really well and he is a good kid,” said chairman Lee Power during the same phone-in.

“I know that is something today we are discussing and looking at and I think he will probably stay with us.”

Meanwhile the futures of former Brighton defender Brad Barry and former Manchester United defender Richard Eckersley are still up in the air.

“They have all done well in their own way,” added Cooper.

“Brad Barry is a young lad who has come from Brighton, where as Richard Eckersley has more experience and I quite like what he has done so far, but it comes down to whether we can fit them all in.”

Fellow trialists James Dayton and Richie Whittingham however, did not make the grade as it was revealed they are no longer with the club, after their brief cameos on Sunday.