SWINDON Wildcats head coach Stevie Lyle believes that he may have secured his eventual successor between the sticks after bringing in teenage netminder Jordan Hedley.

The 18-year-old Great Britain U20 international, who made 23 appearances for Milton Keynes Lightning last term, is set to play outside of Buckinghamshire for the first time in his career after signing on the dotted line at the Link Centre.

Hedley will arrive in Swindon as understudy to veteran goalie Lyle, replacing 24-year-old Michael Crisp as back-up netminder, but the Wildcats chief is eyeing an active role for the youngster, who he considers talented enough to be a first-choice English Premier League stopper.

“I’ve worked with Jordan at summer camps in the past and I have liked what I’ve seen,” said Lyle.

“I wanted to bring in someone that could eventually replace me and Jordan fits the bill. I want him to play 10 or 15 games next season, when I want a rest and things like that and then we’ll look at things from there, depending on if I’m still playing or not.

“He’s a proven goalie in this league and I think he’d be a starter for two or three other teams. I don’t think that he had a goalie coach at MK, so he’ll have that here and hopefully he can improve by working with me one-on-one.

“We had Crispy (Michael Crisp) last season but I think this is an upgrade."

Hedley won a gold medal with the GB U20s at the World Championships, alongside Callum Buglass, Ollie Betteridge, Floyd Taylor, Toms Rutkis, Michael Stratford, Glenn Billing and Luc Johnson.