Whitton United have swooped to sign four young players ahead of the new season.

Greens’ boss Shane Coldron admitted to being ‘delighted’ with his summer captures as Whitton continue to put their faith in youth – almost 80% of their first-team squad is now 21 and under.

Regan Pelling, 19, Nick Ingram, 20, Stefano Mallardo, 20 and Adam Dunnage 18, are the four new players who have agreed to join the Step 5 club, who won promotion to the Thurlow Nunn Premier League last season.

It is a big boost to Coldron and Whitton.

“I’m really delighted to have sourced these summer targets and retain the exciting young players already at the club,” he said.

“My philosophy of attracting, coaching and developing some of the best local young talent is what excites me about the current Whitton Utd squad.

“With almost 80% of the squad under 21, my aim is to establish Whitton as a force in this league in the coming years. I also want to assist these young players to return back to Step 3 and 4 as better players in the coming years.

“While the board have stated the target for us is to stay up and ensure sustainability is achieved for the long term, I believe the new additions in conjunction with the talented retained squad, means we can achieve more than that.

“With some of the older squad players commitments changing, we needed to seek new additions.

“However, with the tougher Step 5 challenge the quality had to be of certain standard as well, but keep within the development philosophy and budget of our club.”

Woodbridge, Framlingham and Whitton made it a Suffolk 1-2-3 in Thurlow Nunn One last season and all three will look to consolidate their place at Step 5 in the season ahead.

Pelling, Ingram, Mallardo and Dunnage have plenty of experience at higher levels despite their young years, while Condron added that, “the experienced players who were vital in achieving promotion last season have also been retained and play a key role in the development philosophy of the younger players in the squad.”

Whitton’s pre-season friendlies include: Wivenhoe Town, Felixstowe & Walton, Cranes, Witham and Ipswich Wanderers.