It’s been a mixed few days for our players spending 2020/21 on season long loans away from St James’ Park.
Starting with Florian Lejeune, the Frenchman made his fifth straight La Liga start for Alaves – but it didn’t last long.
The centre back was taken off with an injury at half-time in their 0-2 defeat at home to Elche, with it emerging that he missed training earlier in the week and only just made the game after a muscular complaint.
We’ll have to hope it’s minor based on his wretched record with injuries of late, however it’s another defeat for Alaves and one that’s left them in the relegation zone after picking up just four points in their opening six games.
Staying in Spain, it was another frustrating day for Yoshinori Muto.
His first two weeks at Eibar saw him remain on the bench against Villarreal and come on for 60 seconds against Athletic Bilbao, however he has started their last three games.
In those games he’s either played up top in a 4-4-2 or as the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1, but he’s yet to get off the mark and has been hooked on or before the hour mark in two of those three starts.
Then to Kelland Watts – the young centre-back who was one of the few success stories of the weekend from a NUFC perspective.
The Alnwick-born 20-year-old is on loan with Plymouth Argyle and scored an 86th minute winner in their 2-1 win over Northampton on Saturday – a win that momentarily sent them into the League One play-off places and level on points with Sunderland.
That’s his second goal in just eight appearances for the club, with him also bagging in their Carabao Cup defeat to Leyton Orient last month.
Watch his latest strike at 1:50 below:
It wasn’t such a good weekend for U-23 duo Tom Allan and Mo Sangare, however, with the former an unused substitute in their 2-0 defeat at Ipswich and the latter left out of their matchday squad entirely.
Freddie Woodman’s Swansea side remain 4th in the Championship, but it’s been a frustrating few days for him, with them losing at home to Huddersfield on Saturday and being held to a 1-1 draw with newly promoted Coventry last night.
Jack Young – our star man at U-23 level last season – also made his senior debut, coming on for 25 minutes in Tranmere’s 1-0 defeat to Newport County
Elsewhere, Elias Sorensen was brought on in Almere City’s 2-2 draw against Dordrecht.
After awful spells with Blackpool and Carlisle over the past two seasons, hopefully he is starting soon following a move to the second tier of Dutch football.
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