ALAN McLoughlin says his prerogative is to develop his young players into footballers who could aid David Flitcroft’s regime at Swindon Town.

The 50-year-old’s Swindon Town U18s have being going well of late, and currently sit second in their Alliance Youth League South West table having won eight of their 12 matches to date.

Since taking over in June last year, the former Town and Portsmouth midfielder says he is looking to develop his players so that they are suitably prepared for live with the first team.

A main part of that is installing a winning mentality into the teenagers, something that McLoughlin thinks he has been able to do.

“The winning mentality comes from me first and foremost because we lost very few games last year,” he said.

“We can still play attractive football, but my job is to get players in a position so that when they go up to the manager, I know what kind of footballer he wants for his first team.

“You have to develop a player to run in behind and be physically strong, they have to be robust and they have to be strong.”

McLoughlin also revealed he treats his scholars as if he was manager of the club as he believes that is the best way to prepare them for what to expect when they make the move into senior football.

After their FA Youth Cup win over Northampton Town at the Energy Check County Ground on Wednesday night, the youth boss will lead his troops into battle against Bristol Rovers this morning (11am) at Stanley Park.

“I treat them as I would if I was first team manager of this football club. I have to lay the law down and everything is done to the letter of the law,” he added.

“If I don’t, when they go up to the manager and big Futch (assistant manager Ben Futcher), they are going to be in for a shock if they think they’re going to have an easy ride for two years.

“I want to prepare them for life in the first team environment because it’s not just about the players they’re dealing with, it is about the management and the expectation.

“So if I set the standards high from their first day of the scholarship to their last, it will stand them in good stead for not only a career at Swindon Town, but a career like I had myself where I played until I was 35.

“Whether it is training, looking after themselves outside of football or college work, because not all of them will become professional footballers and I will make sure they do their college work.

“I promised that to the parents and Jeremy (Newton, academy manager) works very hard with them, we do the right things and that would happen if David Flitcroft was in charge of them anyway.”