Botan Ameen’s attitude is helping him to continue his rise up the ranks towards the first team at Swindon Town.

Following his involvement with the Iraq Under-20s over the summer, Ameen has continued his rise to prominence at The Nigel Eady County Ground so far this season.

Receiving his first senior appearance against Bristol Rovers in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, Ameen wasted no time in getting his first goal and was rewarded by coming off the bench against Cheltenham Town in League Two that weekend.

Sean Wood said of the young striker that the most exciting thing about Ameen has been that his dedication to improvement has remained after getting exposure to the first team.

 

 

He said: “It is all going in the right direction [for Ameen], as I have mentioned many times, his character and the way that he acts on and off the pitch make him a real role model for our under-16s and under-17s.

“He works ever so hard, trains really well, and everything is going in the right direction with his development.

“It has been great to see him get some first-team involvement and be in and around training with them.

“Now that there is a new manager, hopefully, he has caught the eye [against Newport County] again and he stays in the under-18s and first-team pathway group.

“That is where we want more and more of our under-18s to be as we want more homegrown players receiving opportunities and challenges that prepare them for the first team.

“It can be difficult when that happens if they think they should be over with them but thankfully with Botan it is an easy one as whatever group he is in, he works hard.”

Ian Holloway has been very excited by what he has seen from the academy so far and said he won’t hesitate to throw them in if they are ready.

He said: “You have got to nurture it and I love that we have got a true pathway at the football club because you need a catcher’s mitt underneath them to help them and improve them.

“If you look at some of my other places I have been, I have had some very young players in my team, especially at Bristol Rovers and I picked them instead of me.

“Young lads will get a chance with me and if any of them are diamonds then I will be making way for them.”