NICK Bennett and Jake Richmond have vowed to continue producing top young players for Weymouth FC, following their promotion to the reserve team.

The management duo have already helped nurture such talent as Sam Poole and Ollie Tribe through the youth ranks and they are determined to carry on that philosophy in the Magna Dorset Premier League.

Bennett told Echosport: “We have both come up from the youth team and the way in which the club has puts its faith in youngsters over the past couple of years has been great to see.

“The message we are looking to send out now is that will continue with the reserves this year, which will all be about giving young players the opportunity to develop in order to one day hopefully progress on to the first team.

“We are more than prepared to put our time in like we did with the youth team and you only have to look at Sam Poole to see what can be achieved.

“Sam was with the youth team for two years. He then spent a season with the reserves and now he has just signed a first-team contract.

“Ollie Tribe, who was a first-team regular last year, is another perfect example and of course there are the likes of Richard Marshallsay and Alex Halloran, who have progressed through from reserve-team football.

“The South West Counties Youth League is a very good standard but it is also very expensive to compete in, so this year we have decided not to run a team in that and instead blood the youngsters in the reserves.

“However, that does not mean we are not going to have a youth section anymore because we are, and talks are already ongoing in terms of how we are going to structure that going forward.

“All those that were in the under-18s last season will be making the step up with us and they are a great crop with the likes of Chris Povall, Charlie Holland, Max Ironside, Will Gape, Lee Sharpe and Eddy Mitchell all coming through.

“Those lads and several others all have the potential to do very well and with the support that Brendon King and Matt Groves are giving them they will certainly have every opportunity to succeed.”

Bennett believes closer links with the first team should also help players develop quicker but he is certainly not setting any time scales for future talent.

He added: “All the youngsters will be training regularly with the first team this year and that in itself will be a great learning curve for them.

“It will be a lot more demanding but it will also give them a real insight into what they need to do to progress.

“Take Chris Povall for example. He will be training with two fantastic goalkeepers now in Tom Manley and Nick Jordan and that can only give him a great education and be of huge benefit.

“When Brendon King and Mark Carter took over the reserves last year the objective was to help populate the club and get players in that were capable of making the step up there and then.

“There is no doubt they did a fantastic job with the likes of Sam Clarke, Alex Halloran, Lewis Whyton and Jamie Beasley all coming through but the job this year is different.

“There is now a bit more breathing space to look at players for six months’ time, a year’s time or even 18 months’ time, and it is that development process that we will be fully focusing on whilst also trying to be as competitive as possible in the Dorset Premier League.

“The DPL is very well organised and there are some very experienced players in it which will no doubt give our youngsters some great experience.”