St Albans City youngster Cameron Ferguson has said he still harbours hopes of strutting his stuff at Clarence Park – but for now he is loving life at Cockfosters.

He is one of a trio of young Saints who have moved to Chalk Lane on a temporary basis following the disbanding of the club’s development side last season.

And along with Callum Lee and Taylor Wild he feels the experience of playing men’s football is invaluable in his personal development.

He said: “I’m really enjoying it [at Cockfosters]. It’s nice to play with a lot of boys I know. I was here for the second part of last season so I know a lot of them from then.

“[Cockfosters manager] Dean Barker has given me a chance to play and I’m loving it.

“I was training with St Albans City during the summer but I needed to be playing more. I didn’t want to be sitting on the bench.

“It gives me more minutes of football and gives me an idea what I need to do to make that jump [to National League South].

“I just want to take this year and learn from it. It was my first real taste of men’s football and it was great to get that experience. It definitely helps my development.

“It’s teaching me about what I have to do when I’ve got the ball. I need to have a bigger physical threat.

“I do feel I’m a bit better; I could see that when I was training with City in the summer.”

Ferguson also had the chance to go across to Sweden where he trained with IF Elfsborg for two weeks.

And although the chance to go back never materialised, the experience has given him hope that he can still make his way in the football world.

“It’s very competitive to get to big clubs in England but it was good to see there are chances elsewhere,” he said.

“It’s a lot less physical in Sweden. People were commenting on my tackling and how physical it was. It was surprising to hear that.”

For now though his future is in North London but he can’t help and look further ahead.

He added: “No disrespect to Cockfosters but I want to play higher. That is why I’m here. If I have to take a step down to make two steps forward I’ll do it.

“But we have a good team here. We all put in a shift for each other and if we carry on like last year, there’s no reason we can’t finish in the top 10 or even higher.”

Cockfosters boss Barker is happy to have the link with Saints.

He said: “I know City’s Director of Football, Adam Lee, and they have some good players who are not ready for the National South and so we’re very happy to have them.

“They’re good young players who might play for St Albans in a few years time but at the minute they’re getting game time with us.”