Six players on loan from West Ham United appeared for their respective clubs in the Football League this weekend.
Near the top of the Championship, fresh from a man-of-the-match display on his Republic of Ireland debut last week, Josh Cullen played the full 90 minutes at home for Charlton against Birmingham.
Heading into the game unbeaten in the league so far this season, the Addicks endured a frustrating afternoon, with Cullen helping to dictate the play – the home team enjoyed 62 per cent of the possession – but being ultimately unable to inspire the breakthrough.
Birmingham would nick the game 1-0 when 16-year-old Jude Bellingham struck seven minutes into the second half, a disappointing result for Lee Bowyer’s Addicks that drops his side down to third place in the table.
On the cusp of the play-off places, striker Jordan Hugill was part of a Queen’s Park Rangers side that raced into a three-goal advantage within the first 30 minutes of their fixture at home to Luton.
After Eberechi Eze put the home team in front from 25 yards, Nakhi Wells netted a brace with two composed finishes before Harry Cornick pulled one back for Luton shortly before the interval.
Luton set up a nervy second half when Cornick then turned provider for James Collins, but despite coming close on several occasions, Hugill couldn’t add to his tally of five goals so far this campaign and the score remained 3-2 to the Hoops, who move up to seventh.
One place above QPR are West Brom and Grady Diangana, with a late goal from Semi Ajayi preserving their unbeaten league record with a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Anthony Knockaert’s misplaced cross had initially put the home side in front early in the second-half, but the Baggies were not to be denied late on, claiming a draw which saw them move into sixth place.
In League One, Academy of Football graduate Ajibola Alese made his Football League debut this week for Accrington Stanley in a second-half substitute appearance.
Alese came on at Crown Ground with the home team already trailing 3-1 to high-flying Sunderland, and managed to repel the Black Cats from then-on out, but it wasn’t enough to keep Accrington from slipping to 20th place in the table after seven matches - just outside the relegation zone.
Recently called up to the England U21 set-up for the first time, goalkeeper Nathan Trott was back between the posts for AFC Wimbledon this weekend as they drew 1-1 at home to Shrewsbury, a result that leaves them in 21st place.
After the hosts went ahead to an own-goal in the 31st minute, Trott pulled off one particularly spectacular stop to deny Shrewsbury’s Jason Cummings in the second period, but had little chance in preventing him from slotting home a cross from six yards towards the end of the half.
In League Two, striker Oladapo Afolayan came off the bench with 20 minutes remaining to make his Mansfield Town debut as the Stags slipped to a 1-0 loss at Crawley.
Afolayan had little opportunity to make his mark on the match, but will hope for a further chance when his new side host Cambridge United tonight.
In Scandinavia, playmaker Sead Haksabanovic’s run of three goals in three games for IFK Norrkoping came to an end at Malmo in Sweden’s Allsvenskan.
Despite a late positive run of form, Norrkoping’s 1-0 loss to their fellow European challengers leaves them cut adrift in seventh place, seven points behind third-placed Malmo with only seven points remaining.
In Norway, winger Martin Samuelsen was once again a late substitute as FK Haugesund drew a blank at home to Mjondalen in a 0-0 draw that keeps them ninth in the Eliteserien.
