JOHN Coleman is eager to welcome the next generation of Accrington Stanley stars.

The Reds chief has thrown his weight behind the club's Programme for Academic and Sporting Excellence (PASE) scheme, run by coach and youth development officer Paul Lodge.

And Coleman is urging local youngster to seize the chance to become a professional footballer with Stanley.

"We're certainly looking at this as the way forward for bringing players on, and the brighter ones will be offered a professional contract at the end of it, if they're good enough," he said.

Sixteen-year-old boys, who live in a 20-mile radius of Stanley, are invited to attend the club for trials, even if it means just turning up at their training ground at Wilson Playing Fields, Clayton-le-Moors.

The two-year scheme is a mixture of football and education, with scholars having 12 weeks at Accrington and Rossendale College, studying one of a number of sports related courses, and 12 weeks of training.

Coleman added: "We can start grooming players to play the style of football we want to play.

"The lads will get a full education and two years professional football training.

"And the qualification from college means they will have something to fall back on if the football side of things don't work out."