Another productive week has passed for Southampton’s loan players across the football pyramid in England as Nathan Tella scored another brace for Championship leaders Burnley. This and more in the latest Loan Watch…
Tella continues to enjoy a standout season with the Clarets as he notched his 13th and 14th league goals, taking his tally to 16 in all competitions, in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Wigan Athletic.
Scoring twice with his head at Turf Moor, Tella helped maintain Burnley’s position as runaway league leaders with a 13-point gap at the top of the Championship table.
After the win, he spoke of the positive feeling his current form has given him:
“I do feel really confident in front of goal, thankfully today I was able to get two and on another day I could have had a hat-trick.”
Meanwhile, in the Premier League, Jack Stephens helped keep a clean sheet as AFC Bournemouth pulled off a shock 1-0 win over Liverpool at home in the early kick-off on Saturday.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Will Smallbone continued to prove himself as a key part of Stoke City’s midfield in a 3-2 home win over Blackburn Rovers on Friday night.
Smallbone played the full 90 minutes as the Potters recorded back-to-back league victories for the first time since October.
Stoke have won four of their last six Championship games as they moved up to 14th in the table.
Down a division in League One, Kegs Chauke picked up more minutes with Exeter City as a second-half substitute in their 2-1 win over Lincoln City that helped the Grecians move up into the top half of the table.
In the fight at the lower end of the table, there were two games for Morecambe as Caleb Watts and Dynel Simeu both featured.
In a 1-1 draw against Cambridge on Tuesday night, Watts was introduced as a 74th minute substitute whilst Simeu played the full 90 in defence - Simeu also played the entirety of the weekend’s fixture, but the Shrimps fell to defeat against Shrewsbury Town.
In League Two, Kazeem Olaigbe and Ryan Finnigan maintained their starting spots with Harrogate Town and Crewe Alexandra respectively.
Olaigbe picked up an assist on Tuesday night in a 2-0 win on the road against Doncaster Rovers, but his side were beaten on the weekend against Crawley Town as he played the full game.
Finnigan featured in a Friday night thriller as Crewe ran out 4-3 winners against Salford City; Alexandra conceded in the 85th minute before firing back in the 87th and 90th minute to claim all three points.
Outside of the EFL, Nico Lawrence played twice in a week for National League outfit Torquay United but his side were narrowly beaten by Solihull Moors and playoff-chasers Wealdstone.
In the National League South, Will Tizzard enjoyed back-to-back wins with Chippenham Town as they stretched their unbeaten run to eight games with a 1-0 victory over Weymouth and a 3-1 triumph over Dover Athletic.
Jack Turner also featured in an unbeaten week, helping his Braintree Town side move up to fourth in the league table; the midfielder returned from a minor injury to score on Tuesday night in a 2-2 draw against Oxford City before featuring again at the weekend in a 0-0 draw against Weymouth.
Luke Pearce was also on the scoresheet as he notched his fifth of the season for Eastbourne Borough in a 3-2 win over playoff-chasing St Albans, which was a much-needed return to winning ways after a midweek defeat against another side in touching distance of the playoffs, Tonbridge Angels.
Finally, Jack Bycroft returned from injury to keep a clean sheet for Taunton Town in a 0-0 draw against Cheshunt.
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