Three West Ham United loanees were in action for their respective clubs over the weekend.
Flynn Downes was once again in the heart of Southampton’s midfield as the Saints secured another EFL Championship victory, this time away to Millwall.
Fresh off a Man of the Match performance in their last league outing, Downes played the full 90 minutes at The Den and helped the south coast side to earn a fifth win in seven matches.
In a largely uneventful fixture, the only goal of the match came in the third minute of added time as Ryan Fraser tucked in at the near post to snatch the three points for the visitors.
It was a win the Saints deserved, having claimed 73 per cent possession and registering eight shots on target to Millwall’s solitary effort.
Downes has now made eleven Championship appearances for Southampton this season, with the side sitting fourth in the table on 27 points.
This past weekend also saw the FA Cup first round proper held, with EFL League One and League Two teams entering the competition at this stage.
Hammers midfielder Freddie Potts was the sole loanee in action in the tournament, playing for Wycombe Wanderers in their 2-1 win over Bradford City.
The League One side asserted their dominance over League Two Bradford in the first half as Killian Phillips fired home from David Wheeler's knock-down on 19 minutes, before Potts himself was involved in his side’s second.
The 20-year-old won back possession in the Bradford penalty area and his effort was turned into the Bradford net by home defender Sam Stubbs.
Potts was substituted at the interval and the hosts looked to fight back in the second half, halving the deficit through Jamie Walker’s finish.
But Wycombe held on to claim the win and secure their spot in the second round.
Finally, Nathan Trott and his Vejle BK teammates were on the wrong end of a 1-0, as they lost away to FC Nordsjælland.
Like Downes, goalkeeper Trott put in a Man of the Match showing last weekend for his side, and the 24-year-old made a superb start to the fixture by denying Martin Frese’s header just four minutes in.
In a closely fought match, a fellow loanee got the only goal as Andreas Schjelderup – back at Nordsjælland for the season on loan from Primeira Liga club Benfica - raced through on 62 minutes to slot home.
Vejle sit second-bottom of the Danish Super League table, on nine points.
Back in England, two loanees were unused substitutes in the FA Cup first round. Krisztian Hegyi was on the bench for Stevenage as they secured a late win over Tranmere Rovers, while Kamarai Swyer was among the substitutes for Crawley Town in their loss to Notts County.
