By David Hobbs
August 18 2005

Manchester United youngsters Phil Picken, Colin Heath and Tom Heaton have all left Old Trafford for League One in order to gain first-team experience.

Defender and midfielder Phil Picken has joined Chesterfield until the end of December while duo Tom Heaton and Colin Heath have sealed loan moves to Swindon for three months.

Robins boss Andy King watched the pair in United's 3-0 reserve win over Bolton Wanderers earlier this week as Heath netted twice while Heaton kept a clean sheet.

"We are lucky to have them here and I am very thankful to Sir Alex Ferguson and his staff for their assistance with the matter," said a delighted King.

"The boys are on loan here with a view to extending the deal to a year, but their futures are at United so I must make it clear that we will not be signing them permanently. The deals are going through and we hope to have them available for selection at Blackpool this weekend,"

"We have them for three months initially but we will make a further decision when the initial period is up. Sir Alex Ferguson will then have a look and decide on whether the experience has been good for them."

Meanwhile, the Spireites are also buoyant with their coup. Assistant boss Lee Richardson stated: "We are pleased that Phil is joining us as he will give our injury-hit squad a welcome boost." 

David Hobbs - Webmaster
[david@manutdweb.com]