Loan Player of the Year – Alex Mitchell (7.27)

Consider what we expect a loan player to be like. They are here perhaps for themselves, here for a chance to get into their own first team. That might be obvious, and when it is, they flop (Liam Cullen is a great player for Swansea, not for us). They might be trying to claw back their career but heading down, as Jake Hesketh was, but occasionally, something different happens. Occasionally, they’re like Alex Mitchell.

If there’s a tackle to be made, he made it. He headed the ball, kicked players and always gave everything he had. By the end of his loan spell, it was hard to fathom how he was a loan player, such was his complete and utter commitment to the cause. Images of him waving a flare around in the Shakey’s beer garden only reinforce how highly he’s thought of.

That’s all well and good, but you have to be handy with your feet as well. Only one player got a higher average rating from you this season. Only two players got more Man of the Match Awards. Given how Neil HArris hasn’t been too committed about Mitchell’s future, we might even see him back here.