Wolves' new Academy Manager Kevin Thelwell admits he has a tough act to follow in overseeing the conveyor belt of talent from which the club have benefited over the last decade and a half.

The 34-year-old from Warrington - also the birthplace of former Molineux record goalscorer and managing director John Richards - has started work at Compton this week.

And he is relishing the challenge of building on the success of his predecessor Chris Evans, who departed in the autumn to become assistant manager to Gary Megson at Bolton Wanderers.

"There has obviously always been huge support for the Academy at Wolves and plenty of opportunity for young players to go into the first team," he said. "That was the main factor in me coming here because Wolves are steeped in the tradition of producing their own players.

"I know Chris Evans quite well and had a good relationship with him when I was at my previous clubs. I'll be trying to carry on the valuable work he did here.

"I watched a practice game among our under-15 and under-16 lads on Monday night and thought the standard was very high, so that was an encouraging start."

Kevin became the country's youngest Academy Manager when appointed by Derby two years ago at the age of 32, having followed first-team manager Billy Davies from Preston North End to Pride Park.

He doubled up as the Rams' acting first-team coach last season when they won promotion and had a few days as caretaker manager between Davies' leaving in the autumn and the arrival of current boss Paul Jewell.

Kevin had been taken to Deepdale on the recommendation of Davies' right-hand man and ex-Wolves striker David Kelly and had previously worked for the FA of Wales in football development and education.

His playing career was spent at Shrewsbury Town, where he skippered the reserves without reaching the first team, and at semi-pro level with the likes of Northwich Victoria, Congleton and Winsford.

"It's one of the realities of the game that you have to be prepared to move and I plan to move the family here in a year or so after our daughter has done her school exams," he added.

"It is a huge operation with Wolves having almost 150 registered young players from the age of nine upwards and this job will take a lot of my time. But it is a challenge I am very excited about taking on."

Pictured: Kevin chats to two of his new charges - Michael Wardle and John Dunleavy.