PAUL Jewell’s shoestring squad will have a knock-on effect on their new Under-21s squad, assistant boss Chris Hutchings has admitted.

Town’s new age group side kicked off their season on Monday with a 2-1 defeat at Swansea in the Professional Development League Two South.

The side, managed by Sean McCarthy and Mark Kennedy, contained a number of players who also appeared for the Under-18s just 48 hours earlier.

Hutchings admitted this could be a problem for Town for the next couple of seasons.

He said: “We don’t have a big enough squad. We have our youth team who play on a Saturday but if we get a few injuries, that will decimate us for a Monday.

“The big clubs, with 50 to 60 professionals, can carry it, but we can’t. It is probably going to take about three or four years for clubs to build up big enough squads.

“It is something we need to work on and build on through our academy. If we have a young side and the opposition has a more experienced side and we get beat, our young players have to learn from that.”