HE might not have yet been able to make the grade at Ipswich Town.

But Ronan Murray remains confident he can follow in the footsteps of former Town academy strikers Connor Wickham and Jordan Rhodes and carve out a successful career in football.

Wickham signed for Premier League Sunderland for �8.1 million in the summer while Rhodes is banging goals in for fun for League One promotion hopefuls Huddersfield.

And Murray believes moving down the leagues – following his loan move to Paolo Di Canio’s Swindon Town – could be the key to him blossoming as a player.

Murray said: “I played alongside Connor Wickham from Under-14s all the way through to playing in the first team together as well.

“Jordan (Rhodes) was also at Ipswich at youth level as well and he was great. He just didn’t get his chances there but moved on and now he is doing really well for himself.

“I look at those two and I put myself in that bracket and believe I can achieve a lot in my career. The aim is to kick on now and start scoring goals for Swindon.”

Murray made his debut for The Robins as a sub in the 2-0 win over Aldershot on Saturday and he told the Swindon Advertiser that the chance to play regular football convinced him to step down to League Two.

He added: “My first aim is to play well and help the team to win and I come second. If I score, I score, and that is it really.

“I feel I will benefit massively from playing first team football because when you are playing reserve games you do not have the crowd.

“It is just a different feeling. Everyone is up for the games, you have to be up for it and no-one gives less than 100 per cent, so it is a great feeling playing senior football, especially when you win.”