Manchester United had a range of academy players on loan making their debuts for their new clubs yesterday afternoon.
Ethan Wheatley
Despite only sealing a move to Northampton Town on Friday, the academy striker was thrown straight into the line up.
He played the entire 90 minutes in Northampton’s 1-3 defeat to Wigan Athletic.
Wheatley had two key passes in the match and completed 100% of his dribble attempts.
The striker also won 75% of his ground duels but found it harder to compete in the air, winning just two out of his eight aerial battles.
The 19-year-old failed to have a single shot on goal but he will probably be content with his first outing for The Cobblers.
Sonny Aljofree
Aljofree managed 90 minutes on debut for Notts County in their 1-1 draw versus Newport County.
He made four clearances in the match and blocked one shot.
The young defender also made on tackle and won 100% of his ground duels. Like Wheatley, he also struggled in the air, losing five of his seven aerial battles.
Aljofree, who showed last year at Accrington Stanley that he had an eye for goal, had an effort that flew wide of the target.
Dan Gore
Daniel Gore got a refreshing start for Rotherham United. The young midfielder has battled with injuries for the last two seasons and will be desperate for a consecutive run of games this season.
He played 67 minutes in Rotherham’s 2-1 victory over Port Vale.
Gore had a quiet afternoon, making only nine of his 15 passes and touching the ball 19 times.
The youngster did manage one key pass and also won three aerial duels.
Joe Hugill
Hugill endured a nightmare debut midweek, missing a penalty in a cup shootout defeat for Barnet.
It was another disappointing afternoon as his side lost 0-1 at home to Fleetwood Town.
There was an improvement in his general play though as he had two shots on target and missed one big chance in the match.
He did lose his only aerial battle and only managed to complete four passes. Nonetheless, he will be happier that he at least got into a couple of good goalscoring positions and will hope to build on this in future matches.
Jack Moorhouse
The young Irish midfielder got his first taste of senior action, coming off the bench for the final 25 minutes of Leyton Orient’s 0-3 defeat to Huddersfield.
He had 12 touches of the ball and completed 100% of his passes as he kept possession ticking over.
The 19-year-old did win two ground duels and made one interception during his time on the pitch.
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
