It’s public knowledge that we’ve had a verbal offer from a League One club for Dan Wishart.

When I get that kind of phone call, I cannot help but think of the likes of Stefan Payne, Harry Beautyman or Damian Scannell, who all went on to play in the Football League having spent time with us.

I can even look back to my days at Eastleigh – we had a centre half called Aaron Martin who was signed by Southampton.

I also think of the likes of Jamie Vardy who, having been released as a youngster by Sheffield Wednesday, bounced back to become a Premier League title winner with Leicester City.

I say “likes of Jamie Vardy”, I should really say “like” in the singular – because non-League players rarely get the chance to grace the top flight anymore - or even the Championship.

There are reasons for this – it cannot be denied that the influx of foreign players is one of those reasons.

But there is also the huge net that Premier League clubs use to sweep up into their academies any young British kid who shows an ounce of talent from the moment they take their first steps.

It is a ruthless net too, clubs will sort the wheat from the chaff, and comfortably tell a 10-year-old they are not good enough to fulfil their dreams.

It's hard to take, and it's even harder if you’re a 17-year-old and you’re told to pack your bags – and the chances of them returning Vardy-style are virtually nil.

The academies are so good at sweeping up talented youngsters that the days of non-League clubs finding that gem and then keeping that gem all the way through are gone, and they have been gone for some years.

Nicky Bailey is a good example of how it used to be. 

While we were warming up at Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday, he told me: “I played here for Sutton in the FA Cup when I was 16.”

That was 16 years ago (sorry Nicky)!

But he started out with Sutton United in non-League, joined Barnet, and then ended up playing in the Championship with Charlton Athletic and Middlesbrough.

Nicky deserves a return back to the Football League, but reaching the Championship and above these days is only for the very lucky few.

Dan Wishart could be one of those lucky few.