RYAN Kidd believes it is only a matter of time before a homegrown player makes it into the Bury first team after watching his Under-18s side breeze to the top of their league and into the second round of the FA Youth Cup.

Hotshot striker Anthony Dudley took his tally for the season to 16 goals in 14 games after scoring his third hat-trick of the campaign in a 6-1 win at home to Seaham Red Star in the FA Youth Cup on Tuesday.

That followed a 3-0 victory at home to Walsall on Saturday that moved them level on points with the Midlanders at the top of the Football League Youth Alliance North West.

“Results are important because we want to foster a winning mentality in the players, but our number one priority is producing players for the first team,” said Kidd, Bury’s head of youth coaching.

“This club has not had a regular first-team player come up through the ranks for six years and that is something I am desperate to change.

“But it is not just me. The chairman and the entire first-team coaching staff were at our game against Walsall on Saturday morning.

“The gaffer (David Flitcroft) has introduced a philosophy that runs throughout the club. From the first team to our Under-9s, every player is taught to play the same way, train the same way and have the same attitude towards strength, conditioning and fitness.

“There is still a lot of work to do, but we are making steps in the right direction and I am confident that, in the future, fans will start to see players coming through into the first team.”

Flitcroft put the youth set-up under the spotlight at the weekend following the announcement that centre-back Nathan Cameron, who had been linked with a number of Championship clubs, had signed a new three-year contract.

The Bury boss said he worked hard to keep the young defender at the club because he did not believe there were any ready-made replacements coming through.

But he said if they can get that “conveyor belt” moving then the club may be able in a position to cash in on their very best talent in the future.

“We’ve got ambition to get out of this league, that’s the first objective,” he said.

“The first bid for one of your players, you can’t look to sell them because the replacements are not out there.

“You can’t make a statement that you want to be ambitious in this league if you are selling your best players.

“So we have got to put a lot of work into the conveyor belt underneath the first team.

“We have got to put a lot work into that and make sure that if we do sell it is on our terms, not just because our heads have been turned by a big bidder.

“That’s the next part of this plan, to make sure the bottom layer of this squad is really strong, and that is what is going to take the work at this football club.”

Danny Nardiello looks set to miss Saturday’s first round FA Cup match at home to Conference South side Hemel Hempstead Town with a groin injury.

Tom Soares is suspended and Kelvin Etuhu is an injury doubt after being withdrawn with a hamstring strain at half-time during last Saturday’s 2-0 win against Cambridge United.