Ipswich Town boss Paul Lambert believes the emergence of another wave of young players could ultimately ‘save the club a lot of money’.
Midfielder Brett McGavin is the latest to make the jump from the Under 23s to the first-team, starting both the EFL Trophy loss at Colchester and FA Cup win at Lincoln and impressing in a central midfield role.
Idris El Mizouni and Armando Dobra have been given league debuts by Lambert in 2019, while the likes of Tommy Hughes, Tyreece Simpson, Tawanda Chirewa and Liam Gibbs have all been given late cameos in the EFL Trophy.
While there is significant senior traffic between the group of youngsters and the first team, Lambert has been impressed with the way they have conducted themselves and sees a bright future for a group of players who could be involved in tomorrow night's visit to Peterborough.
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"He was a young lad, thrown in again and I've been really happy with Brett because he's done well," Lambert said, when asked about McGavin.
"There are a lot of guys a bit ahead of him at the moment but he's done well.
"He's grabbed the game and taken his chance. Now I know he can handle men's football.
"That's all you ever want from a young kid, for them to show you what they can do. It's the same with Dobra, Idris and Tommy Hughes.
"It might just save the club a lot of money, millions."
When asked whether he would have an concerns about throwing McGavin, or any of the young players, into the thick of a vital League One game, Lambert said: "Not now because he's (McGavin) proved to me what he can do. There are lads playing really well but he's shown he can handle the environment and go and play.
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"I can trust them because there are good lads about them.
"The guys I play can handle the ball and can handle the occasion. The guys in the academy deserve a lot of credit for developing the kids and we try to give them the finishing touch of what it's like to be a footballer, the mentality of a footballer and the mental strength of being a footballer.
"You're going to get ups and downs with it so we try and help them out with it. We try to give them a winning habit."
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