Albion Sports’ Kayden Jackson believes he has a “great chance” of securing a full-time professional contract.
The 18-year-old, who lives in Argent Way, Tong Street, Bradford, is down to the final three of the Samsung Win A Pro Contract from an initial entry of over 5,000.
Now the teenager is on the verge of signing a professional contract with npower League One clubs Swindon Town or Leyton Orient.
Having come through the semi-final at the County Ground on December 16 under the watchful eye of Swindon boss Paolo di Canio, Jackson was in the Samsung team that were beaten 3-2 by a Leyton Orient XI last Wednesday at the Matchroom Stadium.
The Samsung team twice took the lead, and Jackson and fellow finalists Claudio Hoban, 21, of Northampton, and 19-year-old Jack Sherratt, of Stoke-on-Trent, will spend a week training with the respective first-team squads.
Two of them will then get one-year professional contracts, and Jackson said: “I can’t really put what this means into words. It makes all the travelling and hard work worth it.
“I think I played well in the final but I couldn’t be sure I’d done enough to get picked.
“Thankfully the managers saw enough in me to give me another chance. Now I want to prove that I’m good enough to play with pro-fessionals.
“Hopefully I’ll be able tom show all aspects of my game. I think I’ve got a great chance to win a contract.
“I’ve come so far, I won’t let it slip through my fingers now.”
Orient manager Russell Slade said: “The final was a really good standard – very competitive right from the start.
“All of the players showed terrific commitment and effort.
“Kayden is very quick. The game got stretched towards the end and his pace made him stand out.”
Swindon Town’s assistant manager Fabrizio Piccareta said: “Paulo was impressed with the three players when he saw them last month, and they played well again when I saw them.”
Sky Sports will be showing a three-part series about the trials in mid-March.
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