SWINDON Town assistant coach Scott Marshall says there is no right for any young player to make it in the competitive world of football.

A youthful Swindon squad was selected for all four of this season’s EFL Trophy matches as head coach Ben Garner tried to bring on several promising young players from the academy.

But with that competition now over after Town’s 2-1 exit to Colchester on Tuesday night, the opportunities to play competitively this season have been drastically reduced.

Marshall was asked about his ideas to improve the player-development pathway for young players when there is very little or consistent Under-23s football to help bridge the gap between the academy and professional environment.

He said: “When you come out of Under-18s football and you go into Under-23s football, you’re then going into Under-35s football. So you’ve got years of players ahead of you – it’s a competitive world.

“You’ve got established professionals that you’re trying to clamber over and get a place in a starting line-up, and that’s no easy thing.

“There’s no right for anyone to get there, you have to work really hard, and you need to take the opportunities when they come along. There’s a lot of trials to get through for young players.”

Suggestions have been made for all of the major football governing bodies in the UK to work together in order to fund a more consistent development league once players reach the professional level.

Currently, a team’s chances of playing in an Under-23 league is based on the category of their academy – and that invariably depends on how much money the club has at its disposal.

Marshall says there is no right answer to improving the game at the ‘bridge’ level, and says governing bodies are constantly reviewing the pathway for young players.

He said: “I know that the Premier League and the Elite Player Performance Programme (EPPP) have done so much for developing young players in this country.

“The games programme is always something that is looked at, and producing the right challenges to help young players come through is something that’s always discussed.

“There’s never one solution for every player, you have to keep analysing each individual and keep trying to give them opportunities.

“But it’s not easy, and there’s no right to it. You’ve got guys who want to protect their position in the game as well. As a senior player, you’ve got the young guys coming to test you, and you have to be rolling your sleeves up ready to compete.

“Anybody who gets an appearance in the league and plays senior football, you cherish it, you learn from it, and you do your best to make sure you get another one in the future.”