Boss Mick McCarthy says one or two of the new intake of full-time academy scholars have already impressed both him and some of the club’s senior pros. Last week, Town announced that 10 youngsters, many of them local, will begin two-year scholarships in the summer.
McCarthy says they are already familiar to him from Playford Road, although most tend to be some way off the first team at 16, with the occasional exception.
"They’re generally miles off the first team at that age group, certainly coming in," he said. "There’s the certain odd one that stands out, as Dozzer has, as Bish did actually, as a kid with his ability.
"But I see them every day because we’re all in the same building and on a lot of occasions they train with us.
"There’s many a Monday morning where we just put them all together and have a big seven, eight or nine-a-side competition and just have a look at them, just to get the first-teamers who have played [at the weekend] back playing and we let them join in.
"So I do get a good viewing of them, I see quite a bit of them. I’ve not seen them play matches because they play on a Saturday.”
Asked whether there are any who he believes could be involved with the first-team squad within the next couple of years, he cited Zimbabwe-born, Colchester-raised box-to-box midfielder Tristan Nydam (pictured), who is on standby for the England U17s squad for the European Championships which start in Azerbaijan later this week and is one of those who has already trained with the Town first team.
"Tristan Nydam, he’s a really good player,” McCarthy said. "I won’t go through them all because I don’t know all their names off the top of my head, but he’s the one that’s stood out for us.
"There are a couple of them, actually. They’ve trained with us, they’ve trained with the first team.
"What’s always nice when they train with the first team is that the first-teamers go, ‘I like that!’.
"Some of the older players, the likes of Chambo, Skusey and Dougie, they recognise when they’ve trained against them [and they’ve been impressed] and will ask who they are. There are two or three of them who have stood out.”
Elsewhere, former Blues striker and academy product Jack Marriott carried off the Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season, Internet Player of the Season, Young Player of the Season and Away Player of the Season gongs at Luton’s end of season awards dinner on Sunday.
The 21-year-old joined the League Two Hatters last summer following his release by Town and has scored 14 goals in 24 starts and 19 sub appearances so far during 2015/16 with one to play.