WORCESTER City has secured young gun Ethan Moran on a contract until the end of next season – and there are more in the pipeline.

Attack-minded Moran, 19, is the first to commit for 2019-20 with fellow youth product Liam Lockett and summer signing Jordan Harrison on deals until the end of this season.

And manager John Snape confirmed he is “aiming to put two or three others on very small contracts” in the coming weeks in a bid to protect the time and effort put into developing stars of the future.

“Since the start of pre-season we have lost a lot of players, albeit to higher levels of football, and we have to protect ourselves,” said Snape.

“We have lads progressing through the youth system into the first-team who have played together for three or four years and with the situation the club is in it is a fantastic opportunity to safeguard them while helping them to make that next step.

“It has been a topic of conversation for a while how potential is great but craft, sharpness and knowhow come into it as well.

“It is about winning games and the one thing I want to get into all of our younger players is how to do that between now and the end of this season.

“This is men’s football, it is not academy stuff and I don’t mean that at all disrespectfully. Age-group football gets played at a good tempo and it is more of a passing game but sometimes it is very simply about putting points on the board.

“Since we have brought in the youngsters maybe they have struggled in that respect but I think with perseverance from them and us, these boys can have a very big future with the club.

“We are aiming to put two or three others on very small contracts to make sure we don’t lose them in the summer because there has been interest in a number of our younger lads.”

While contracts give City protection if other clubs come calling, it also means those players must be paid.

But Snape, who will address shareholders at tonight’s AGM alongside assistant Ashley Vincent, insists that is the right move despite cash being in short supply.

“It is a simple thing for me, it is an absolute no-brainer for the club to protect the future by securing these kids and I have the board’s full support on it,” he added.

“Ash (Vincent, assistant manager) and I have spoke to the directors and these are the players we want to work with moving forward.

“I would not anticipate anyone questioning the money spent on these contracts, I think it is immaterial because they would get what is being offered anywhere else in any league.

“They are on deals because they want to be part of the club every bit as much as we want them to be here.”