Head of Youth Paul Driver also spoke about three of his graduates getting pro deals, saying "All three of them have displayed what you need to make the transition from the boy's game to the men's game. Hilliard and Higgins particularly have showed all of those attributes; application, physical ability, and mental ability when we put them out on loan to men's football teams at the back end of last season.

"All three went to a decent level; Joe played at Brackley, Lewis played at Hemel (that were in the same League as Corby and nearly got into the Blue Square North/South level). Billericay were at the Rymans level and they did well, that's often where good players at youth level can fail when it comes to the men's game. In the case of those three, particularly the two outfield boys, the way they kicked on towards the end of the season is why they've been given pro contracts. Hopefully that will stand them in good stead going into their first years as pro's because they've already had exposure at senior level.

"Hilliard is particularly pleasing because he came through our Centre of Excellence, he's the first player for a while to come through from the Centre of Excellence's Under 15/16's. Many of our recent players who have made the jump came to us as Youth players after their under 16 year at other clubs, whilst Lewis has come through our ranks, which is particularly pleasing."