Exeter City youngsters Jack Sparkes and Ben Seymour have signed new contracts at the club following good starts to the season.
Sparkes, 18, has played eight games for the club this season and impressed in a left-wing back role, while Seymour, 20, after winning a penalty as a substitute on his league debut was rewarded with his first start at home to Port Vale.
"It feels great,” said Ben. “It is obviously good to get another deal but that doesn’t mean that my hard work stops here. I have just got to continue training hard and hope that I can get as much game time as I can this season. Progress if everything at the minute. It was great to get my first league start and I want more game time because playing games is everything in football and we are on a great run at the moment.”
Speaking about signing his deal, Jack said: “I am delighted. It was nice to put the signature on the paper. I just can’t wait to carry on the run and keep going.”
Jack added that it was pleasing, as young players, to be at a club where youngsters are given a chance in the first team and the academy is seen as such an integral part of the setup.
"We have had players that have come through that are up on the academy wall behind us,” he said. “So being given the chance is really important for us youngsters because it gives us confidence and it gives the academy confidence and if we can keep producing players then it is great for the club.
“What the fans do, with the STARS campaign, is really important for the academy and as long as we keep backing that there is no reason why we can’t keep going upwards.”
Ben also added that the support he has received has helped him. Attendance are up at St James Park year on year and he said making his League debut against Leyton Orient as a second-half substitute when the fans were backing the team even though they were trailing 2-1 at the time, gave him a lot of belief.
"The fans are everything,” he said. “They brought me so much confidence. They are almost like a 12th man on the pitch and they are everything for this club and if they can carry on doing what they are doing it will bring success.”