WILTSHIRE teenager George Lamb is hoping to continue making the grade as he chases a spot in the England Schoolboys U18 side.

The 17-year-old, from Mildenhall, near Marlborough has made it through to the last 64 aiming to clinch a spot in the ESFA (English Schools Football Association) representative side, which will vie with Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland to win the Centenary Shield next year.

The central defender, who is second year student on Hartpury College’s junior football programme, was put forward by his coaches for preliminary trials in Newton Abbott last month and Lamb also successfully progressed through a regional stage held at Clevedon Town FC.

Next up are play-off trials at Lilleshall National Sports Centre on November 29, where they will be whittled down to a final 32.

“My coaches at Hartpury put me forward and when I went to the first trial, I was thinking ‘there’s going to be so many people there and they’re all going to be really good’,” said Lamb, who studies for a BTEC Diploma in Sport at Hartpury.

“But because I’ve got through a few rounds, it’s given me a lot more confidence and I’m not as nervous as I was before that first one.

“We’ve played three 30-minute periods in all of the trials and I got injured in the first one down in Devon. I couldn’t believe it but I still got through, which was great.

“It would be amazing to go all the way and get picked. Hopefully I can play well again on November 29.”