Leeds United Loan Round-Up: Week 21

Not a whole lot of positive things happened this week, aside from a Mallik Wilks assist for Doncaster. With Liam Cooper reportedly returning to training, and Luke Ayling nearing a comeback, it is looking less and less likely that a loanee will get a call-up during the January transfer window. Again, Liam Kitching and Lewie Coyle are probably the two to keep an eye on in that regard. With 2019 on the horizon, many of the Leeds’ prospects will be looking to the new year as a chance to truly show that they are ready for first team action with the Whites.

Jay-Roy Grot - FW, VVV-Venlo

For the second week in a row, Grot had a horrid 48% passing completion percentage. VVV fell 2-1 to Vitesse and have now earned only 1 point in their last 4 matches. Of non-goalkeepers who have played in at least 9 matches, he is the 10th-worst passer (by percentage) in the Eredivisie, meaning that he is on the 4th percentile out of 232 eligible players. However, he has had his fair number of key passes with 11 through 16 matches, so it hasn’t been all bad.

Mallik Wilks - FW, Doncaster Rovers

Mallik Wilks picked up an assist on Doncaster’s first goal in their 3-0 win against Scunthorpe United. It was not the most skillful assist, as the 20-year-old got the ball caught underneath him when he dribbled into the box, but he did well to keep his head up and find an oncoming Benjamin Whiteman for the easy layoff and subsequent goal. Wilks now has 4 assists on the year to go with 6 goals, which makes him 2nd on the team in assists and goals in league competition.

Paudie O’Connor - CB, Blackpool FC

Blackpool won their FA cup match and lost their league match, though O’Connor did not appear in either.

Laurens de Bock - LB, K.V. Oostende

Oostende won their Belgian cup match this week, but lost 2-0 to Genk in league play. De Bock did not appear in either match, and has clearly lost favor with his manager of late.

Lewie Coyle - RB, Fleetwood Town

Coyle returned from his rib injury and played a full match this week, helping Fleetwood beat Burton Albion 1-0.

Tyler Denton, LB, Peterborough United

Denton is back in the dog house and did not make the 18 man roster for either of Peterborough’s two games this week.

Liam Kitching - LB, Harrogate Town AFC

Harrogate’s last match was last Thursday, and Town managed to pull out a nice 4-1 victory, which saw Liam Kitching go the full 90 minutes, as usual.

Vurnon Anita - CM, Willem II

Willem had a terrible loss this week, 3-0 to ADO Den Haag. Like always, Anita was solid in his passing, but did not do much else either defensively or offensively. His side has to be careful, as they are only 2 points away from relegation playoff spot.

Hadi Sacko - RM, UD Las Palmas

Not in the squad again, his days of playing with Las Palmas are clearly over.

Alex Machuca - FW, Burgos CAM

Machuca was not in Burgos’ squad this week.

Adrián Balboa - FW, Terrassa FC

Balboa did not start for the first time in a few weeks for Terrassa, and it worked out well for the Spanish club, who won 3-0 over Inicial.

Oriol Rey - CM, UB Conquense

Rey was also on the bench for his team’s 1-1 draw with Hercules.

Oliver Šarkić - FW, Barakaldo CF

Sarkic got the start at striker for Barakaldo this week, meaning that

Yosuke Ideguchi - CM, Greuther Fürth

Ideguchi is out for the year with a partially torn PCL.

Eunan O’Kane - CM, Luton Town

O’Kane is also out for the year with a broken leg.