MANAGER Adam Flint hopes Witham Town can continue to be an attractive proposition for talented up-and-coming young stars.

And the Town boss feels they will see the benefit of their growing reputation as a club where youngsters are given chances to progress their careers by getting opportunities to test themselves in senior football.

In their two years at the Village Glass Stadium, Flint, his assistant manager James Robinson and coach Curtis Whyte have shown no fear in putting young players into their first-team squad and trusting them to perform.

When Witham host Waltham Abbey in Bostik League division north on Saturday, they are likely to have a number of youngsters who have emerged through the club’s own youth and reserve structures and from the Braintree Town Academy, which is based at Witham.

Players such as Chinedu Osadebe, Max Wilson and Kofi Gyebi have impressed this year alongside the club’s more experienced squad members, with defender Jack Kemsley as the latest youngster to come in and catch the eye.

Kemsley made an excellent full debut in Witham’s last game - a 1-1 draw against Heybridge Swifts - and Flint hopes other young players will see the chances that exist at Witham and want to step up as well.

Flint said: “Jack (Kemsley) was immense in his full debut against Heybridge and that’s a really good thing with youngsters coming through as they can see that there’s a future here for them.

“I’ve said to the players that there are 12 games for them to show what they can do.

“Hopefully they will be here with us next year, but if not, then they can go higher.

“That is what this club does.

“Look at the players who have been here – the likes of Tom Wraight and Cody McDonald in the past – it is a good platform for them and they will get their chance.

“It’s great with the under-18s, the reserves and the Academy as there is a pathway and they know that they will get a go.”

Kemsley, who has only just turned 19, said he was grateful for the guidance that he had received coming through Witham’s youth set-up and now in the senior side and wanted to repay that faith at first-team level.

The Town youngster said: “I was going to quit football and a great man called Martin Lee called me up and said to come and play for the under-17s and 18s.

“I was then looked after in the reserves by Mark Nicholls, who’s a great bloke, and then Adam (Flint) said about training with the first team and I’ve now got my chance.

“Coming into the squad at training was fantastic, knowing that Witham has a great manager who is happy to bring people in from the reserves and the Academy.

“Adam, Robbo and Curtis have belief in me to play and I’ve been glad to repay that.

“I’d recommend to any young players to come here because it’s a club that takes care of them.”