Chris Powell: South Asian community is full of footballing talents

There are already role models for young South Asian players who are willing to continue their football at the highest level.

defender

,

's

, and QPR’s academy coach

Manisha Tailor

are all part of this community and they are working at the elite level of the game. Powell started his coaching career at Leicester, where two-fifths of the population is Asian or British Asian.

"There's some talent out there, you see the young boy at Bournemouth [Dinesh Gillela],"

Powell told

Sky Sports

.

"There's a young player at Spurs as well, who is very talented and understands what the game's about.

"The parents have [also] bought into it, and the club have been very welcoming in making sure that there's an understanding because [South] Asian players are talented.

"There's some good ones who I feel will be part of the fabric of the game. There's always talk about a superstar but I think we've got to look across all four divisions and get players in at all levels."

He added:

"If we're trying to get more young Asian players in the game they've got to see people like them,

"I can relate it to myself. Even my own father, way back in the 1970s, saw Clyde Best, and all of a sudden he attached himself to West Ham. Same for myself with Cyrille Regis and I think it's the same for young Asian players.

"The stereotypes [that have plagued aspiring British South Asian footballers] we have to come away from that now. We have to look at the positives and look at people like Danny Batth, Neil Taylor and Hamza Choudhury."

Follow

for the

.