AFC Telford and Market Drayton keepers are tipped to catch a pro deal

Former Wolves keeper Matt Murray, now coaching full-time at the Nike Academy based at the FA's headquarters St George's Park near Burton-on-Trent, believes AFC Telford United's James Montgomery and Ash Rawlins of Market Drayton have the qualities to progress to the full-time game.

Montgomery, who is 22, and 19-year-old Rawlins have already had a taste of life as professional footballers.

Montgomery is being coached twice a week at his hometown club Sunderland after a year of weekly training sessions with Wolves, while Rawlins has had trials at Leicester City, Stoke, Crewe, Bury and Nantwich Town.

The duo actually played against each other for the first time on Saturday in the Shropshire Senior Cup semi-final when Rawlins impressed but was on the receiving end as Telford romped to a 4-0 win.

Murray has coached both – Montgomery at Nike and Rawlins when he was a student at Telford College of Art and Technology – and reckons they have what it takes to turn pro.

"Both came into goalkeeping quite late – James was a centre-back and at Middlesbrough doing a college course, but he had fantastic distribution with his feet because of his outfield experience," said Murray.

"He just needed to work on his standing positioning, but he was a really quick learner and had lots of trials at different places.

"A lot of clubs looked at him and he worked really hard at his game, but it didn't quite happen for him.

"But I still think there's a chance he'll play in the Football League.

"He's got a really good temperament and he's played 50 or 60 men's games for Telford.

"There's lots of interest in him and he's a great lad. He's improved a lot on his crosses and his temperament is a real bonus."

Murray, who is an UEFA A licence coach but is currently being assessed on his A licence goalkeeping and plans on doing his managerial diploma next summer.

He believes Rawlins has similar potential to Montgomery.

"If I could get hold of him I'd work with him day in, day out and he could be a League keeper," he said.

"I still keep tabs on Ash via Twitter. He was in the B team at Telford College and we had another lad in goal.

"Ash stood in for one game and that was it – the shirt was his. He'd never really been coached but he was so effective and had a way of keeping the ball out of the net.

"He's good with his passing, short and long. It would be nice to really work with him one on one because when I was there, I was first-team coach and I could only put on little sessions with him to work on crosses and angles.

"He's so tall, but he's an athlete. So many goalkeepers who come through academies are robotic because they've learned to do things in a textbook fashion, but Ash has just found his own way.

"It's so nice when you see someone who has developed their own individual style – Mike Stowell and Ben Foster were like that because they hadn't come through the conventional route.

"Ash used to make a lot of saves with his feet and every game he played for me was outstanding and he knew me and the other lads believed in him."

Murray still keeps in contact with the pair occasionally, adding: "I still speak to a lot of lads but my keepers never leave me!"