Class of 92' star Ben Thornley says "the future is looking bright" at Manchester United's academy.

United's U23 side have responded well after they were shockingly relegated last season to the second division of Premier League 2, the top-flight's second-tier competition.

Ricky Sbragia's team are just three points off leaders Reading in fourth place.

As an analyst for MUTV, Thornley has watched the U23 matches closely and has been impressed with their performances, especially that of teenage duo Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes.

"They've started this season fantastically well," Thornley told TribalFootball.com.

"They've been really, really entertaining to watch. And none more so than Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong.

"They've got the ability to pick up the ball and go either way forward both with and without the ball, and they're both technically gifted and I've seen both of them score some tremendous goals this season already."

If United decide not to sign a striker in January, Chong could potentially be an option for Jose Mourinho in the second half of the season, given Romelu Lukaku's injury struggles in recent weeks.

The 18-year-old was an unused substitute during the Champions League loss to Juventus last month, which Thornley believes is indicative of United's improving academy.

However, Thornley added that it was the perfect opportunity for Chong to make his senior debut.

"It didn't look like United were going to score in a month of Sunday's and I was sitting up there and I said you know what I'd throw him on.

"He's an unknown quantity, Juventus won't know who he is. He'll be like this is brilliant I can just go do me stuff, nobody is expecting anything and it would've been like a fizzy drink coming on and Juventus might've been thinking 'woah hang on a minute'.

"So yeah, the future is looking quite bright under the first team."

Asked who else United fans should watch out for in the future, Thornley added James Garner (17) and Mason Greenwood (18) to the list.

"I like James Garner I think he's a very talented midfielder and I think he's involved with the England U21s at the moment.

"And also Mason Greenwood. He's already into double figures for the season. He made his debut for U23s at Wolves a few weeks ago. For me, he's still eligible for the youth team in the FA Cup, but I would imagine once the turn of the year comes he'll be an out and out regular in 23s.

"If those four can be pushing at the start of next season for things like getting onto the tour and impressing the manager you never know what might happen.

"Albeit you'll never see what happened with the Class of 92' with so many of the lads coming through at once, but it is really refreshing to see that we have players that can make that transition from the 18s to 23s and eventually into the first team and I'm adamant that for two or three or maybe all of those lads that that will happen at some stage in the not too distant future."

If you want to enjoy an enthralling read, you can purchase Ben Thornley's autobiography, Tackled: The Class of 92 Star Who Never Got To Graduate (Pitch Publishing) by Ben Thornley and Dan Poole, by clicking on the link here.