SWINDON Town assistant manager Tommy Wright says the club has started speaking to Scott Twine about a new contract at the County Ground.

The 21-year-old’s current deal runs out in the summer, and with a handful of Championship clubs rumoured to be sniffing around, Town are reportedly keen to tie their young star down to a new contract as soon as possible.

Twine spent the first half of the campaign at League Two Newport County, where he increased his stock in the game by scoring seven and assisting seven for Mike Flynn’s men.

While the attacker’s profile caused his season-long loan to be cut short in order to help Town’s cause, Twine also alerted the likes of Brentford and Queen’s Park Rangers to a potential diamond in the rough at the County Ground.

With uncertainty everywhere in football at the moment, Town’s assistant said he would love to keep Twine around for as long as possible.

Wright said: “I think we have started speaking to Scott about a new contract.

“I’ve always spoken highly of Scott, every time you’ve asked me. I think the way we’ve managed him has been first class, but Scott has taken everything on board, and he did very well at Newport.

“Obviously, because he’s doing well people are interested in him. He is a talent, but he has to keep working hard.

“Obviously, I want to keep him, I think everybody would want to keep him. But football is football – everybody has got their price.”

Wright also discussed Twine’s outrageous strike against Ipswich, casually mentioning the 21-year-old had repeated the trick in training on Thursday.

The Town assistant did have a word of warning for the club’s latest star, however, stating Twine must continue to operate in the same manner that has brought him success so far in his young career.

Wright said: “He scores a great goal on TV, and obviously there will be people looking at thinking: “if Ronaldo scores that, they’d be singing from the rooftops”.

“He has to keep his feet on the ground though – it’s a fabulous goal, but he scored one like it in training on Thursday.

“He’s got to pick the right moment to shoot, he can’t just start shooting from the halfway line.

“It’s a technique that he’s worked on for years, he’s caught hold of it very well, and hopefully he can keep doing it.”