Mark Kennedy said that age was just a number when it came to Swindon Town’s first-year professionals looking to impress in the first team.

Following the successes of the under-18s side last season, Town signed four of that squad to professional deals in Jaxon Brown, Redman Evans, Sonny Hart, and Joel McGregor and all are now part of the senior set-up.

When asked about what role those players might have next season, Kennedy said that he had no concerns about playing younger players if they show themselves to be good enough, but decisions would be made with their development in mind.

He said: “I think that we are having conversations constantly [about what is best for them], I try my utmost never to talk about myself around being an ex-footballer but age is nothing but a number for me.

“Lots of players make their debuts at good levels at 16 or 17, so if you are good enough then you are good enough, it doesn’t bother me.

“But the most important thing is having a pathway for the players, you are not going to have a 16-year-old playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, by the time he is 25 he will be finished.

“If the players are good enough and they can add to the squad and we can give them some exposure that will help them then we would absolutely do that.

“Ultimately it is about what is best for them and how we can help them grow and develop in their future, but the age thing really doesn’t bother me.”

Swindon have been looking at three trialist goalkeepers at the start of pre-season, but do have Evans as part of the first team and he is a player Kennedy said he was very excited about.

He said: “[Whether to add a back-up goalkeeper] is something we are discussing constantly, but something I will say to all Swindon fans, and Redman knows this, he is highly regarded here, he is highly thought of in football by a lot of people that don’t work for Swindon.

“He has a big, big future ahead of him – the most important thing for him and the club is sitting down and discussing what is best for him and the outcome we will come to will only have one thing in mind and that is his career going forward, because I think that he can be a huge asset to the club.”