Gavin Gunning said that he would be looking to give the opportunity to some of Swindon Town’s academy players in the first team before the end of the season.

In an otherwise disappointing season for Swindon, the club’s current under-18 side has experienced a huge amount of success, finishing narrow runners-up in the Youth Alliance League and making a run to the quarterfinals of the FA Youth Cup.

Across the course of the season, every player in the current under-18 side has trained with the senior side, with 16 players being involved in the matchday squad for a first-team match this campaign.

Joel McGregor became the first academy player to be included in the squad since their Youth Cup run came to an end against Bristol City as he was included on the bench as Town took on Doncaster Rovers last weekend.

Miles Obodo, Jaxon Brown, Fletcher Hubbard, and Sonny Hart have all been given minutes in League Two this season, with Harry Gray having also gotten on the pitch against Aldershot Town in the FA Cup.

Additionally, 13 players from the current academy set-up were given appearances during the EFL Trophy campaign, with Obodo and Hart playing in all three games.

Gunning said that he would be looking to give some of the academy players more exposure to the first-team football before the end of the season.

He said: “Possibly [the academy players will get their chance]. You want to integrate young guys into the squad to see where they are at.

“Are they there yet? Maybe not, because League Two is a big difference from the Youth Cup.

“But we have got some fantastic young kids here, so we want to give them that chance [in the first team].

“Obviously, we have not got massive numbers in defence and midfield, we have got a million attackers but we are quite light in defence and midfield.”

Under-18s manager Sean Wood said following the exit from the FA Youth Cup that getting the players into the senior squad was his next mission.

He said: “That would be massive for us, between now and the end of the season, trying to get as many of our under-18s around the training programme with the first team.

“That will happen because it happens every week and then hopefully they take their opportunity when they get up there and can get in and around the first team squad.”