The four Lincoln City League Two loanees have all been involved over the past fortnight, with Zane Okoro finding form in front of goal and Zach Jeacock producing two impressive performances between the posts.
There have also been regular minutes for Oscar Thorn at Colchester United and Oisin Gallagher at Barnet, with the latter demonstrating his versatility across three consecutive starts.
As we discovered this week, it is a shared task to monitor those players, with David Preece, Paul McShane, Joe Hutchinson and Jez George all keeping an eye on things, as Jez explained when asked about their different successes this week.
“It’s brilliant for us,” he said of the players’ success. “I’m straight onto League Two, probably even before League One, at five o’clock every Saturday to see how those four players have got on.
“We get all the footage. There’s contact between Paul McShane and the outfield players, and David Preece with Zac. There are constant messages between all the staff. Zane has two in two, so that’s brilliant.
“Now the window has closed, Joe and I will get an opportunity to go and meet the clubs. We’ll go and watch training for a day and meet the players.
“It’s probably a gap in our provision, but we can’t have every member of staff doing everything, so Joe and I pick a lot of that up.”
Where there is no Joe, David or Paul to pick things up for you, I like to step in. Here’s how our four loan rangers have been doing in the EFL.
Zach Jeacock
Zach Jeacock has recently helped Northampton Town collect two points from successive 1-1 draws against Gillingham and Crawley Town, completing 194 minutes across the two fixtures.
The goalkeeper made two saves against Gillingham, with both stopping efforts that were on target, before producing an even better performance at home to Crawley. Jeacock faced six shots in that game and saved five, although Northampton were denied a clean sheet.
Those numbers mean Jeacock has made seven saves from nine shots on target across his past two appearances. The expected goals on target faced across the two games was 3.35, but he conceded only twice, suggesting his shot-stopping made a significant contribution to Northampton avoiding defeat in both matches.
His short distribution was faultless, completing all 20 of his attempted short passes across the two games. His longer kicking was more mixed, with 12 of 31 attempts finding a teammate, but he also made four successful exits against Crawley as he dealt effectively with balls into his penalty area.
Zane Okoro
Zane Okoro has enjoyed an excellent few days in front of goal for Tranmere Rovers, scoring against Newport County before finding the net again against Rotherham United in midweek.
His goal at Newport came during an 82-minute appearance in which he was deployed across several attacking positions, including centre-forward, left wing and as a right-sided attacking midfielder. Okoro registered four shots, put one on target and accumulated an expected goals figure of 0.37.
The youngster was also successful with his only attempted dribble, created one shooting opportunity for a teammate and had three touches inside the Newport penalty area. He won four of his eight attacking duels and drew three fouls, underlining the problems he caused Tranmere’s opponents.
That followed 93 minutes as a left-sided attacking midfielder during the 1-1 draw at Port Vale. Okoro had one shot, made two progressive runs and was fouled three times in what was a more industrious performance. His subsequent goal against Rotherham means he has now scored in successive appearances and appears to be growing into his loan spell.
Oscar Thorn
Oscar Thorn has added another 233 minutes to his Colchester United tally, starting against Oldham Athletic, Rochdale and Bristol Rovers.
His most productive performance came in the 2-1 victory over Oldham, when he supplied an assist and created two shooting opportunities for his teammates. Operating as a right-sided attacking midfielder, Thorn had six touches inside the penalty area, made three progressive runs and completed both of his attempted dribbles.
He retained his place for the 1-0 victory over Rochdale and played 58 minutes. Although he did not register a shot, he again created an opportunity and completed all three of his attacking duels. Thorn also made two progressive runs and drew two fouls.
The 20-year-old then played 75 minutes on the right wing as Colchester suffered a 2-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers. He created another shooting opportunity, successfully completed both of his dribbles and won five of his eight attacking duels. While he has not added another goal or assist since the Oldham match, his ability to beat opponents and create chances has remained evident.
Oisin Gallagher
Oisin Gallagher has completed each of Barnet’s past three League Two fixtures, playing 296 minutes as they collected five points against Shrewsbury Town, Cheltenham Town and Exeter City.
Gallagher’s versatility has been particularly useful. He operated as an attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder and right-sided central midfielder during the 3-1 victory at Shrewsbury before starting further forward in the 2-2 draw against Cheltenham.
He produced his most assured performance in possession against Cheltenham, completing 45 of his 72 passes. Gallagher also won five of his six aerial duels, demonstrating that he could influence the contest physically despite being used in an attacking midfield position.
The academy graduate was subsequently asked to perform several roles during the 1-1 draw at Exeter, featuring as an attacking midfielder, left-sided central midfielder and defensive midfielder. He completed 32 passes and made four interceptions during another busy appearance.
Brought to you in conjunction with Wingers Lincoln.
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