Loan Watch: Smallbone starts in solid Stoke win

Smallbone played the full 90 minutes in his 21st league appearance for the Potters, as they beat Bristol City 2-1 away from home.

The result saw Stoke leapfrog their opponents up to 17th place in the table as they went three games unbeaten for the first time since October.

Down a division in League One, academy loanee Kegs Chauke made his second successive league start for Exeter City as they travelled to playoff-contenders Bolton Wanderers.

The 19-year-old midfielder played 61 minutes in a defeat at the University of Bolton Stadium as the Grecians remain in 13th position in the table.

Elsewhere, Caleb Watts gained further minutes with a 45-minute appearance for Morecambe in their narrow defeat on the road against table-toppers Plymouth Argyle.

Saints’ third League One loanee, Dan Nlundulu, was without a league game on the weekend as Cheltenham Town’s home fixture against Lincoln City was postponed.

However, the striker played over an hour in the Robins’ 4-0 win over Chelsea Academy in the Papa Johns Trophy Round of 16, setting up a Quarter Final clash against either Salford City or Port Vale.

Photo by Cheltenham Town

In the Vanarama National League South, B team centre-back Will Tizzard continued his development in senior football with another 90-minute outing for Chippenham Town on Tuesday evening.

The Bluebirds were on the wrong end of a thrilling 5-3 defeat against playoff hopefuls Oxford City but are still in a position to move out of the relegation spots with games in hand on several teams above them.

Finally, up in Scotland, Kazeem Olaigbe got another 62 minutes of action under his belt for Ross County as they fell to a narrow defeat against St. Johnstone in the Scottish Premier League.