It was a busy week for Liverpool’s loanees both in the Football League and broad, as Danny Ward‘s Huddersfield maintained their place at the top of the Championship.
Following a blistering start to life at Morecambe with some unproductive outings, Jack Dunn returned to form with a bang on Saturday, claiming a goal and assist and inspiring victory for the League Two side.
Leading the line against Cambridge, the youngster played a match-winning role in his team’s 2-1 comeback win, firstly by winning and coolly converting a penalty to equalise and drag Morecambe back into the contest.
https://twitter.com/AcademyLFC/status/777510564360749056
And two minutes later, Dunn’s turned provider, playing a clever through pass to release teammate Paul Mullin, who broke away and slotted home to complete a quick-fire turnaround and ultimately seal victory, thanks to Dunn’s fine work.
Great win away from home! ???? Keep it up now onto next weekend @ShrimpsOfficial
— Jack Dunn ? (@Jackdunny94) September 17, 2016
Premier League loanee, Jon Flanagan, endured another frustrating weekend without action for Burnley, watching the Clarets’ 3-0 loss to Leicester from the bench.
Seeing his first-team action extremely limited since joining Sean Dyche’s side, Flanagan instead enjoyed match action with Burnley’s U23s during the week – with the full-back playing 90minutes in the development team’s 2-0 victory over Harry Kewell’s Watford at Turf Moor.
The Scouser turned in an impressive display at right-back in the Premier League Cup win, earning high praise from manager Michael Jolley who said of the Red defender: “I thought Flanno was terrific today and probably the best player on the pitch.”
In the Championship, Ryan Kent enjoyed a productive week of action for Barnsley, producing two impressive individual performances despite the mixed set of results.
Despite fears of an ankle issue, the young winger started in Tuesday night’s thrashing of Wolves, and he produced an impressive performance in the emphatic 4-0 win, catching the eye with his directness and dribbling skill before exiting to a standing ovation after 82 minutes with his side 1-0 up.
82 – All 701 Reds fans inside the ground stand up and applaud Kent as he leaves the pitch following an excellent performance! #COYR
— Barnsley FC (@BarnsleyFC) September 13, 2016
After the bright display, the academy graduate retained his place in Barnsley’s starting XI for Saturday’s disappointing 2-1 loss to 10-man Reading, turning in another bright individual 68-minute performance.
Kent once again lined up on the right of midfield and almost made the perfect impact but saw his left-foot thunderbolt smash the crossbar after a mazy run, while he also created a clear-cut chance with an excellent run and cut-back which was poorly finished.
https://twitter.com/AcademyLFC/status/777514943499362304
After making his Red Bull Salzburg bow last weekend, Andre Wisdom made his first start for the club in the Europa League on Thursday night.
But it proved a disappointing maiden start for the defender, who begun at right-back but was forced off after 30 minutes of the 1-0 loss to Krasnodar due to tearing his thigh muscle, which ruled him out of weekend action and for the next three weeks, the club has confirmed.
Also in Europe, Lazar Markovic was restricted to two substitute appearances for Sporting as he finds his feet on return to Portugal.
https://twitter.com/LMarkec50/status/774999998018818049
The Serbian made a Champions League comeback in midweek, featuring in Sporting’s 2-1 loss at Real Madrid where he was limited to a hard-working 20 minute cameo as his team attempted to hold on to their 1-0 lead, before two late goals earned Madrid victory.
Markovic’s second substitute outing came on Sunday night in Sporting’s surprise 3-1 loss against Rio Ave.
The Serbia international played the final 20 minutes again, giving him enough time to play a role in the slick move leading to Bas Dost’s consolation goal – which he will hope earns a longer-run out next time – and pick up a booking.
After both enduring error-strewn midweek displays, Liverpool’s two Championship goalkeeper’s responded well to enjoy much better weekends.
Suffering defeat at Brighton on Tuesday night, Danny Ward bounced back with an improved individual display to help his Huddersfield side earn a hard-fought 2-1 win over QPR and retain top spot in the table.
The Welshman will certainly have busier afternoons but when called upon he delivered, while he could do little about the goal conceded being beaten by a close range header following some suspect marking from his defence.
And at the other end of the table, it was also a better afternoon for Adam Bogdan, who retained Wigan’s No.1 shirt and responded by registering his second league clean sheet of the season against Fulham.
In an uneventful game, the Hungarian also had a relatively quiet afternoon but to his credit he kept concentration – a usual weakness of his game – to pull off one sharp first-half save, getting down well at his near post to push away a powerful strike.
In League One, Ryan Fulton completed an unbeaten weekend for the loaned ‘keeper’s, helping Chesterfield to a 3-1 win over Northampton.
The Reds youngster enjoyed a productive afternoon, impressing with his distribution and especially shot-stopping, making a fine flying save at full stretch to tip a Northampton pile-driver over the bar before conceding a goal he could do little about – beaten by a spinning effort that crept inside his post.
Lloyd Jones enjoyed one outing for Swindon this week, featuring the Robins’ 2-1 win in the Checkatrade Trophy over Chelsea’s Under-23 side.
https://twitter.com/lloydjones51/status/776073622607818752
The centre-back, who had a dreadful afternoon last Saturday in which he was sent off, responded with a much-improved display on the left-side of a back three at the County Ground, defending solidly with more composure than his last game.
Jones was out of action at the weekend however, missing Swindon’s 2-1 league loss against Bury through suspension.
Also in the third tier, left-back Sam Hart was an unused substitute for Port Vale on Saturday, watching his side’s 2-1 win over promotion hopefuls Gillingham from the bench.
It was another unproductive weekend of action for youngsters Taiwo Awoniyi and Allan Rodrigues de Souza for their European clubs.
Awoniyi continued his early struggle at NEC Nijmegen, playing only the first half of his side’s 2-0 Eredivisie defeat to Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday afternoon, in which he failed to impress and was hauled off at half-time.
Meanwhile in the Bundesliga, Allan was again an unused substitute for Hertha Berlin in their 2-0 win over Schalke on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool’s Loanees This Week
• Markovic – Sporting – Played 20mins vs. Real Madrid & Rio Ave
• Flanagan – Burnley – Unused sub vs. Leicester & played 90mins vs. Watford U23s
• Wisdom – Red Bull Salzburg – Played 30mins vs. Krasnodar, picking up thigh injury
• Ward – Huddersfield – Played 90mins vs. Brighton & QPR
• Kent – Barnsley – Played 82mins vs. Wolves & 68mins vs. Reading
• Bogdan – Wigan – Played 90mins vs. Norwich & Fulham, keeping clean sheet
• Fulton – Chesterfield – Played 90mins vs. Northampton
• Jones – Swindon – Played 90mins vs. Chelsea U23 & suspended after red card last week
• Hart – Port Vale – Unused sub vs. Gillingham
• Dunn – Morecambe – Played 90 minutes, posting goal and assist vs. Cambridge
• Allan – Hertha Berlin – Unused sub vs. Schalke 04
• Awoniyi – NEC Nijmegen – Played 45mins vs. Sparta Rotterdam
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