Jim Goodwin warns rising stars will continue to end up in England as Dundee United boss calls for change in Scotland

Jim Goodwin has warned Scottish football must change or top clubs will continue to lose their rising academy stars to England.

Dundee United saw it first-hand on deadline day when they sold Brandon Forbes to Norwich City and sent Rory MacLeod on loan, with an option to buy, to Southampton. St Mirren and Dundee also lost homegrown starlets Ethan Sutherland and Seb Lochhead to Wolves in recent weeks.

Tangerines boss Goodwin believes there is a lack of a pathway from Under-18s to first team but even the sides with B teams have also been vulnerable. Rangers and Celtic haven’t been immune either. The Light Blues lost Rory Wilson to Aston Villa and Hoops have seen the likes of Ben Doak, Rocco Vata, Aidan Borland and now Daniel Kelly exit Glasgow’s east end.

Goodwin said: “Most young players in Scotland want to get to England, that’s something we have to be realistic about. The opportunity to go and play with some of these bigger teams down in England is a big, big draw. Without getting too political on it either, I do think the way the Scottish game is set up at the moment it is very difficult for clubs like ourselves to hold on to the best young talent.

“Once they start becoming too good for the Under-18s, not every team in the country can afford to run a B team. That is the situation we are in at the moment where we have 18s and then a huge step to the first team.

“Whereas if you go down to England, these kids can play Under-18, the next three years at Under-21s and they have a significant period of time to continue their development. Unfortunately we don’t have that luxury.”

The United gaffer admitted he tries to get his young players out on loan in a bid to fill the void by getting them game time. But the plan didn’t