Scunthorpe striker Connor Jennings played 65 minutes on Saturday for local rivals Grimsby Town – as he made his debut for the club having completed a loan move there.
The 22-year-old was thrown in at the deep end by Mariners boss Paul Hurst as he partnered Lenell John-Lewis up front.This was some achievement for the United striker, who had previously been on loan at Macclesfield Town, who played 90 minutes just three days before the game against Salisbury.
United manager Russ Wilcox felt the loan move to Grimsby was too good an opportunity for Jennings to turn down as it will provide him with the perfect opportunity to get some much needed game time under his belt.
Wilcox told The Iron Player: “He has come a long way and following his injury.
“Connor has become a much stronger person mentally and you need that as a player throughout your career as you career is up and down all the time.
“There are highs and lows and you just have to learn to be able to deal with the lows.
“He has dealt with his low really well and he wanted to get back out there and play some games.”
The United boss said Jennings, who scored 16 goals in 18 appearances for Macclesfield earlier this season, expressed a desire to go back out on loan to get game time.
With United’s frontline firing on all cylinders it would have been tough for Jennings to get back in the side straight away.
Therefore a loan move seemed the best thing to do – and it happened quickly after Paul Hurst was impressed with what he saw last Wednesday at Mansfield.
“He was eager to go on loan and I think the move suited both parties as it would get him back to speed,” Wilcox explained.
“He isn’t quite at the level we need him to be at to be part of our first team at the moment.
“Hopefully he’ll get six or seven games under his belt while he is there and once his 28 days are up we’ll look at it and see where we are but he’ll be in a lot better shape.”
Meanwhile the Iron boss is also keeping tabs on both Michael Collins and Matt Godden, who are also out on loan – at AFC Wimbledon and Tamworth respectively.
Collins has played the full 90 minutes in all three of his games for Wimbledon this season and Godden has scored three times for Tamworth in as many appearances.
Wilcox has stated, that even though both players along with the youngsters are out on loan from the club, the analyst is continuing to look through all their DVDs.
He said: “We have got the DVD’s through from how Matt and Michael are doing.
“Harry Dunn is going through their DVD’s to clip together exactly what they have been up to."
“We also have Callum Howe, Jamie Wootton and George Grayson out on loan,” Wilcox continued.
“Andy Dawson went to Gainsborough on Tuesday night to watch Jamie and Callum but we are monitoring all the lads that are currently out on loan and we keep tabs on them as they are all part of our group.
“Just because they are not in the building it doesn’t mean that they are not part of our group."
He added: “We make sure that we do things right at this football club and any player that is out there on loan will be watched and analysed.”
See much more from Russ Wilcox on The Iron Player.