SWINDON Town midfielder Luke Haines will continue to be involved for the considerable future after making his first appearance for his hometown club on Tuesday night in the EFL Trophy, revealed caretaker boss Noel Hunt.

Haines, who joined Swindon Town’s academy at the under sevens age group, enjoyed a solid first outing for the senior squad alongside Arsenal loanee Matt Smith in central midfield and rarely looked out of place during the 1-0 success over Forest Green Rovers.

The 20-year-old’s inclusion was brought about by a spate of injuries to the Town squad, but Hunt suggested Haines will be around for a while longer, even when Jordan Lyden and Anthony Grant recover from their respective ailments.

Asked whether Haines is expected to be kept around or sent back out on loan following his senior debut, Hunt said: “Right now, we’ve got two midfielders, so Luke is my third.

“That’s where we’re at right now because there’s no one out there and we can’t bring anyone in either.

“It was a real test for Luke on Tuesday because Forest Green are so good in midfield in terms of their rotations. I just wanted him to stay strong in the middle of the pitch, and I thought he did that.

“I’m really pleased for Luke because he’s been out on loan a few times and come back and not got game time, so it was really good to see him play on Tuesday.”

Another youngster in Town’s squad who Hunt has predicted big things for is Leeds United loanee Jordan Stevens.

Having burst onto the scene at Swindon with a handful of eye-catching displays, Stevens has not been at his brightest in recent games as a period of self-isolation and lack of training time has blunted the winger’s skills.

But Hunt is confident Stevens will return to his best once the winger is able to get a good period of training time under his belt.

Hunt said: “Jordan has got every attribute in the world to go and be a really, really good player.

“You could see on Tuesday when he takes the ball on and powers past people for fun, but he has been off for three weeks.

“He got his test results back from his Covid test last Tuesday before Plymouth so he could travel for that game.

“He trained on Wednesday for the first time in over two weeks, and he was ill the week after, so he’s going to be a bit rusty in front of goal.

“I have no problem with that, as long as we keep creating chances, I know he’ll put one away.”