"I would say yes, we are the club which plays the most young players," McGowan told the Edinburgh Evening News. "Considering the stature of the club, we have tended to bring the majority of our players through the youth system. As a young player, that's what you look for. You want to know the club will give you that chance if you do well.

"It's good to see others like Christophe (Berra) and Andy Driver happy to stay on. The club is looking more towards the younger players, which is always a good thing in my position. Those two are probably the two biggest influences on us because they've gone on to do so well. There was speculation recently about them going to England and that's all you can look for as a young player. It just shows you what you can achieve if you follow that sort of path into the first team.

"My contract was agreed back in April and was pretty much done and dusted, it's just taking effect now. I'm happy here and the club was happy to extend my contract so it was really just a matter of where to sign. It gives me a bit of security and confidence that the club see me as a player for the future.

"I hope just to be more involved this season and push myself in. Hopefully I'll get more chances, maybe coming off the bench or even starting later on in the season. I just want to keep progressing as a player and try to force the new manager to play me."