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CONOR Wilkinson earned a pat on the back from new boss Neil Lennon as the manager continues to run his eye over the Wanderers youth ranks.
The big striker scored against Stoke City in midweek and earned a glowing report from Andy Hughes, who has been put in charge of development squad duties.
After a successful loan spell at Oldham, the former Millwall youth product has now been drafted into the first team squad to give the coaching staff a chance to put him through his paces.
“Young Wilkinson is a player who caught the eye,” Lennon said. “That’s what I want, I want these kids to start knocking on the door.
“We’ve only been here a week to 10 days and seen bits and pieces of him. We’ve seen things we like, things we need to work on.
“But for the time being Conor is one we’ll keep an eye on.
“Josh Vela, Zach Clough – there are a couple of examples and I’m not saying I’m going to play them right away, they need to catch my eye and gain more experience around the first team. When they are comfortable in the first team environment then we’ll look at it.
“It’s important for any club with an Academy system in place that you can bring through two or three.”
Lennon does not anticipate a flood of players to come through from the Academy ranks but appreciates the need for more youngsters to get exposure to first team football.
One of his first acts after arriving a fortnight ago was to bring the likes of Vela and Rob Hall back into the senior set-up – an act widely appreciated by the Wanderers fans.
That lack of opportunity was a constant criticism levelled at his predecessor Dougie Freedman but the new boss appears keen to take his time.
“You don’t get what Fergie got with Beckham, Giggs and Nicky Butt – that’s once in a lifetime,” he said.
“But if you can get one or two in each time over the course of a couple of years, that’s when it starts to work.
“When fans see one of the local lads coming through they take that little bit more pride in them, and that’s important too as the club moves forward.”
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The big striker scored against Stoke City in midweek and earned a glowing report from Andy Hughes, who has been put in charge of development squad duties.
After a successful loan spell at Oldham, the former Millwall youth product has now been drafted into the first team squad to give the coaching staff a chance to put him through his paces.
“Young Wilkinson is a player who caught the eye,” Lennon said. “That’s what I want, I want these kids to start knocking on the door.
“We’ve only been here a week to 10 days and seen bits and pieces of him. We’ve seen things we like, things we need to work on.
“But for the time being Conor is one we’ll keep an eye on.
“Josh Vela, Zach Clough – there are a couple of examples and I’m not saying I’m going to play them right away, they need to catch my eye and gain more experience around the first team. When they are comfortable in the first team environment then we’ll look at it.
“It’s important for any club with an Academy system in place that you can bring through two or three.”
Lennon does not anticipate a flood of players to come through from the Academy ranks but appreciates the need for more youngsters to get exposure to first team football.
One of his first acts after arriving a fortnight ago was to bring the likes of Vela and Rob Hall back into the senior set-up – an act widely appreciated by the Wanderers fans.
That lack of opportunity was a constant criticism levelled at his predecessor Dougie Freedman but the new boss appears keen to take his time.
“You don’t get what Fergie got with Beckham, Giggs and Nicky Butt – that’s once in a lifetime,” he said.
“But if you can get one or two in each time over the course of a couple of years, that’s when it starts to work.
“When fans see one of the local lads coming through they take that little bit more pride in them, and that’s important too as the club moves forward.”
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