Jason Hopkinson believes his history-making Lewes youngsters can be the future of the club.

The Rooks will entertain Premier League side Hull City in the third round of the FA Youth Cup on Monday, December 8.

Lewes are already the first Sussex non-league side to reach the first round proper for three years in a row.

This is now the furthest they have progressed in this competition and they are only the second team in Sussex, aside from Albion, to reach the third round.

David Wheeler has already broken into the first team and coach Hopkinson, who runs the side with Steve Ibbitson, believes more players can follow in Wheeler’s footsteps in due course.

Tim Rivers starred in the 3-0 second round defeat of Croydon Athletic last Wednesday while Fred Foreman scored a fantastic free-kick. There are plenty of others too, including centre back and skipper Ryan Timms.

Hopkinson said: “We have some good players. They don’t miss training, because we have a policy that if you miss training you don’t play, and they are great to work with.

“Right-back Grant Hall, who is only 16, is a great prospect. Tim Rivers was offered a scholarship at Brighton but didn’t fancy being a full-time footballer and left-back Matt Whitehead, who along with David Wheeler got through to the next stage of England schools trials, is a tenacious player and very comfortable in possession.

“Fred Foreman is just class, particularly dead balls. He is so relaxed in possession. I will miss him next season but I hope he goes to the standard he deserves because he is a cracking footballer.

“Then of course you have David Wheeler. We had two clubs come down to watch him against Croydon Athletic. Unfortunately he was injured playing for the first team at Torquay the night before but it goes to show the strength in depth we have got that we won so comfortably without him.

“I know David did himself justice at Torquay. The boy has a great future ahead of him. I hope we get one or two others on the periphery of the first team.”

Five of the squad, including Rivers and Foreman, were given their first taste of first team action in last night’s 1-0 Sussex Senior Cup victory at Selsey.

It has been a tough season for Lewes, whose financial problems have been well documented.

There has been an air of despondency about the club but fans have been lifted by the youth team’s cup run.

A crowd of 200 watched last Wednesday’s game and went home thoroughly entertained by the vibrant young Rooks.

Hopkinson said: “They were organised, they listened and carried out the job I asked them to do. They didn’t play as much football as I would have liked in the second half, particularly in the attacking third, but they competed and made it really difficult to be broken down.

“It is history for the club. The only other club in Sussex to do this was Crawley a few years back when they were beaten by Arsenal. We have not got Arsenal but we have a top six Premier League side.

“Hull were at the Croydon Athletic game and we know they really liked Tim Rivers. We did really well, even without David Wheeler, who has been a big player for us.”

Hopkinson and Ibbitson, together with Steve Eke and Bob Bantock, install a professional attitude in the youngsters and insist on getting their preparation for games spot-on.

They have a 22-man youth squad who are rotated for league games. The in-form players are picked for the FA Youth Cup matches but it is a testament to the squad that nearly all of them have featured at some stage during their cup run.

Hull City will provide a huge test for them but Hopkinson hopes the Lewes fans will come along to support his team.

He said: “We would love to have a big crowd down here for the game.”