Latics are hiding diamond in ranks

TEENAGE TALENT: Chinedu Uche warmed up with the seniors on match days recently

YOUNG starlet Chinedu Uche may still be a mystery to many Athletic supporters, but the midfielder is tipped for big things in the future.

The 17-year-old has already caught the eye of Premier League clubs in coming up through the ranks at Athletic.

A first-year scholar, Manchester lad Uche was brought into the senior Athletic squad over the Christmas period.

He was promoted to the travelling party heading to Bramall Lane on Boxing Day, with Ollie Banks ill and Ousmane Fane suspended.

And while some fans at the Port Vale game may have been scratching their heads trying to identify Uche when he was warming up with the squad on the pitch ahead of the home game against Port Vale, academy boss Tony Philliskirk believes that if he fulfils his potential he can achieve big things.

"He is a very good player and there has been a lot of interest in him in the past," said Philliskirk.

"He played a lot for me last season as a schoolboy. He's a central midfielder in the modern style of being a really good manipulator of the ball.

'GROUP'
"Physically, he needs to develop. But we do see him as one of the better players within the group."

Second-year scholar Ryan Leonard is another player who has been called up to train with the first team by manager Stephen Robinson, as have contemporaries Dylan King and Brendan Glackin, the former getting a spot on the bench as an unused substitute at Oxford.

Leonard suffered the agony of a dislocated knee earlier this season but has since resumed full training.

Athletic's under-18s are back in action again on Saturday, January 14, when they travel to Chesterfield.