DANNY Wilson has urged Sean Morrison to step up to the plate this season, believing the 2010/11 campaign is a big year for the Town defender and his fellow young teammates.

Morrison made his debut for Swindon in April 2008 as a 17-year-old and went on to make 23 appearances the following year, gaining some rave reviews and plenty of admirers along the way.

But opportunities were harder to come by last season, with the centre-back restricted to just 10 games due to the impressive pairing of Scott Cuthbert and Gordon Greer at the heart of Swindon’s rearguard.

With the squad now having completed their first week of pre-season training, Wilson explained Morrison, now 19, has caught the eye, and the boss wants a couple of other young starlets to make their mark on the first team.

“You may raise your eyebrows, but Sean has been up at the front of the running,” he said.

“That’s good news from my point of view because he has to come to the fore this season. It is a big season for him.

“We are looking for one or two players in the squad like Sean to come to the level that we expect this season.

“You’ve also got Callum (Kennedy) Nathan Thompson, and we’ll be expecting big things from them.”

Due to Town’s involvement in the League One play-offs last season, the players reported back for training a week later than most of their rivals.

But Wilson believes the mere five-week break will not be a problem for his troops.

“It’s such a short space of time so the players aren’t going to have lost a great deal of fitness, but they will lose some,” he said.

“We have to get those fitness levels back up again and it won’t take long.”