Loan Report: Mitchell Labelled As Outstanding After Luton Debut

Jonathan Mitchell had a debut to remember at Luton Town with his performance against Leyton Orient leading Nathan Jones to label the young goalkeeper as ‘outstanding’.

The 21-year-old linked up with the Hatters on Saturday and was thrown straight into the starting line-up by Jones in their away trip to Orient.

Mitchell went on to keep a clean sheet and the Luton Manager was full of praise for the performance of the former Newcastle United youngster.

He said after the game: “I’ve known about Jonny for a while and I feel he is one of the best young goalkeepers around.

“He has been on our radar. Darren Wassall has been fantastic and he believes in what we do here (at Luton) - we have known each other for a while.

“They had no hesitation in sending him here and that was one hell of a league debut.

“When we bring a goalkeeper of his calibre in you have to play him; without getting carried away the kid was outstanding.”

It proved to be a good weekend for Shaquille McDonald too as he stepped off the substitutes bench to claim a last-gasp winner as FC Halifax Town inflicted a 1-0 defeat on Southport in the Vanarama National League.

In his fourth appearance for the Shaymen since linking up with them on loan, the young forward came on in the 77th minute and scored on the cusp of added time to help move Halifax up to 19th in the table.

In Sky Bet Championship, Chris Baird made his third successive start for Fulham, helping them to a 2-2 draw away at Reading.

It was the 34-year-old’s fourth appearance since linking up with the Cottagers in a loan deal until the end of the season.

In Sky Bet League 1, Mason Bennett made his fifth start in six games for Burton Albion as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Crewe Alexandra.

The result kept Bennett and co at the top of the third tier table with just 12 games remaining.

The appearance was the young striker’s eighth since moving to the Pirelli Stadium until the end of the 2015/16 campaign.

Elsewhere, Conor Sammon came on as a second half substitute as Sheffield United secured a late 2-2 draw at Fleetwood Town.

The 29-year-old came on in place of Dominic Calvert-Lewis with 15 minutes remaining, with his latest outing representing his 30th of the season.

In Sky Bet League 2, Kelle Roos helped AFC Wimbledon climb into the play-off positions by keeping a clean sheet in their 0-0 draw with Accrington Stanley.

It was the Dutch goalkeeper’s first shut out since linking up with Neal Eardley’s side until the end of the season.

In La Liga, Raul Albentosa played the full 90 minutes as Malaga played out an entertaining 3-3 draw away at Deportivo.

It was the Spanish defender’s 22nd appearance of the season since moving back to his homeland at the beginning of the campaign.

Ryan Shotton and Alex Pearce were both unused substitutes over the weekend for Birmingham City and Bristol City respectively, whilst Josh Barnes was not in action after Mickleover Sports’ came was postponed.