Agyei and Massanka grab the headlines
It’s not quite at Chelsea levels but Burnley currently have 13 players out on loan. Some of them played yesterday with strikers Dan Agyei and Ntumba Massanka, at Walsall and Wrexham, respectively, grabbing the goalscoring headlines.
Agyei (top picture) whose loan move to Walsall was confirmed during the evening of the damp squib that was transfer deadline day might have been expected to be named as a substitute yesterday in their home game against Plymouth, but he was given a start and rewarded them with the opening goal midway through the first half. It was a simple header from close range but he’d already impressed the home fans and came close to adding to that goal with efforts just before and after he scored.
He played the first hour before being substituted as manager Jon Whitney explained. “I don’t know if Dan expected to start but it was something that I felt in my gut,” he said. “Sometimes on your debut you have that energy and that edge.
“We knew that he would tire and it was always the plan to bring him off because the intensity that we play at, he’s probably not used to that, but it was great to bring him off when he’s got his goal. From speaking to him, I sensed he was ready to play.”
We have six more players out on loan at Football League clubs but Alex Whitmore was the only one to play yesterday. He made his fourth appearance for Bury, playing the whole game, in a 1-0 home defeat against Scunthorpe with the goal coming late in the game.
Aiden O’Neill and Chris Long are at Fleetwood and Northampton but international calls left both clubs without a game. It’s been mixed fortunes for the pair though. At Fleetwood, O’Neill has impressed manager Uwe Rösler. He was used as a substitute initially but has now started their last two games. “Sean Dyche just said go and learn and play games,” O’Neill said and he’s beginning to do that and, given his recent form, should be adding to those appearances.
They should have played Blackburn today in a televised game but it has been called due to international calls as has Northampton’s although all is not well there. This week manager Justin Edinburgh left the club who are still searching for their first point of the season. The fans were chanting for his dismissal in the last game and perhaps Long has been fortunate to miss a couple of games when results were bad because of injury.
Injury has also ruled out Josh Ginnelly at Lincoln. He was the first player to go out on loan during pre-season. He scored their second goal in a 2-2 draw at Wycombe on the opening day of the season but came off with an injury and hasn’t played since.
Defenders Luke Hendrie and Tom Anderson were both unused substitutes yesterday. Hendrie joined Bradford City recently and he saw his side win 3-1 in front of the television cameras while Anderson, another deadline day mover, was an unused substitute in Port Vale’s 1-0 home defeat against Notts County that has seen them drop into the relegation positions at the bottom of League Two.
We can now drop into the National League, where three Burnley players are currently involved. Conor Mitchell is at Chester but he was unavailable this week. He’s currently on international duty with Northern Ireland and was in their under-21 side that beat Albania 1-0 with a late penalty last Thursday, playing alongside former Claret Cameron Dummigan.
Jimmy Dunne was back in the Barrow side yesterday that beat Boreham Wood 2-1. It was his first appearance since serving a suspension having been harshly sent off at Solihull Moors in mid-August, a decision then manager Paul Cox wanted to appeal.
But the National League star yesterday was Massanka (bottom picture) who scored his first goals of the season for Wrexham. He was initially credited with the winner at Maidenhead in the season’s first midweek, but that was corrected. Yesterday, however, he scored both goals in their 2-0 home win against Bromley, who included former Claret George Porter in their side.
The first of his goals was a header; the second saw him use his pace as he went down the middle to take a through ball and slot it past the advancing goalkeeper.
In National League North it was a good day for Brad Jackson who was in the Southport team that beat Darlington 2-0 at Haig Avenue. The result has taken Southport into third place in the league.
Finally, it was a disappointing day for goalkeeper Connor King and striker Tommy Wood at Barnoldswick Town. King played while Wood was a substitute but the local side went out of the FA Cup, losing 3-2 against Albion Sports with the winning goal coming in stoppage time.
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