Guinan’s goals earned deal: Duff

» SCORING goals has earned teenage striker Zac Guinan a professional contract with Cheltenham Town.

Guinan, 18-year-old son of former Robins striker and play-off winner Steve, will join the senior ranks next season – but manager Michael Duff has said he has plenty of work to do.

“He is really raw, but ultimately someone who has scored 40-45 goals for the youth team, I am not sure you can let them walk out of the door.

“We’ve had a conversation with him and it’s goals that have got him his contract.

“His all-round game needs to be better and he needs to be a bit more athletic, with more agility and more proactive, but a club like ours, we are reluctant to let someone who is 6ft 1in, with a bit of pedigree because of his dad, and that doesn’t mean he’s going to be a good footballer at all, but 45 goals and he missed a couple of months.

“In the second year of his scholarship he has really developed. If you’d asked me this time last year, I’d have said absolutely no chance.

“I didn’t see anything, but it shows why they get two years at that age group because he’s really come on. He’s shown real signs of progress.

“A bad injury in the FA Youth Cup stopped the trajectory he was on in the first six months, but he came back, worked hard and it stalled him, but he came back scoring goals again.

“He is a long, long way off the first team. But we say it all the time, they don’t have to be ready for our first team at 18, as long as they are on a development curve upward, they’ll always get a chance.

“Lloydy (George Lloyd) is 22 now and you still wouldn’t class him as a first team nailed on starter.

“Same goes for Callum Ebanks, Grant Horton, but as long as they keep showing that progression, because we don’t have an Under-23 side and you can’t take a punt of five or six of them and that’s the frustrating bit because finances dictate that.

“The odd one or two, we have a look at them for the next couple of years. The next year will be important for Zac and it’s important he carries on. We’ll see where he’s at and you go year on year.”

Defender Horton is on loan at League of Ireland side Bohemian, and has been a regular member of their side this season, and Duff said a decision will be made whether to bring him back for pre-season or allow him to end the season in Dublin.

“There is a break clause in the contract, similar to January in ours, which is the summer,” said Duff.

“We’ll be back training by then, but if we want to bring him back, we’ll let him have a couple of weeks for a break because he’ll be match fit anyway and won’t need a pre-season, so it’s important he recharges his batteries and he’ll either come back in with us, or we’re happy where he is.

“He’s doing really well out there, we know that and they like him. He’s injured at the minute, but he’s been doing really well out there.

“It’ll be really interesting when he does come back, how much he’s grown as a bloke as much as a footballer.”