It’s time to catch up with our Hammer loanees who were in Championship action this week on match day seven of the season, as Robert Snodgrass gained his first Villa start and Reece Burke and Josh Cullen’s Bolton Wanderers continued to struggle at The Macron Stadium.
Reece Burke And Josh Cullen (Bolton Wanderers)
It was to be yet another painful week for the bright Academy duo of Burke and Cullen, as their Bolton side were beaten at home by Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United.
The Blades dominated a sorry looking Trotters side and scored their solitary goal in the 33rd minute through Tottenham Hotspur right-back Cameron Carter-Vickers.
The USA International was allowed plenty of time to respond to his own blocked shot from a corner knock down and swivel to unleash a powerful effort that buried into the back of the net via Ben Alnwick’s left-hand post.
The visitors’ lead could have easily been doubled later in the game, as Cullen’s wrongly timed flick eventually fell into the path of David Brooks, who could only strike the bar from close-range.
Both Burke and Cullen remained on the field of play for the whole 90 minutes, as the latter former Bradford City man was booked by referee Stuart Attwell at the start of the second period.
The Wanderers are still yet to win a Championship game this season under Phil Parkinson, with their only points coming in draws with Millwall and Birmingham City as they sit in 24th place.
Next up for our loan pair will be a trip to Portman Road where they will face Ipswich Town, as they go in desperate search of a victory that could revitalize an already doomed looking campaign.
Robert Snodgrass (Aston Villa)
Scottish winger Robert Snodgrass made his first Villa start on Tuesday night, as Steve Bruce’s men were held to a stalemate by Gary Monk’s Middlesbrough.
The tie offered Snodgrass an opportunity to face off with former teammates Ashley Fletcher and Darren Randolph, the second of whom he would have a ding dong battle with in The Midlands.
Although eventually ending in a goalless draw, the encounter wasn’t without its fair share of action and controversy as Boro’s Adama Traore was given his marching orders in just the third minute.
Ex Hammer Henri Lansbury was to follow in the same direction for the hosts in the second-half for an outrageous cynical foul on Marvin Johnson.
Meanwhile, the former Hull City man was impressing the home fans on full debut as he teed up both Birkir Bjarnason and Jonathan Kodjia for fantastic chances but to no prevail.
Sandwiched either side of those two missed opportunities was the No7’s terrific chance of his own to break the deadlock, as he fired a volley against the bar from close-range.
Incredibly, the scores would stay level and Snodgrass would make it two 0-0 draws from two in a Villa shirt, but it had been a superb first display that wasn’t too dissimilar from his Hammers debut at St Mary’s.
Next up for Bruce’s Villa is a trip to Oakwell live on Sky Sports tomorrow night with a kick-off time of 5:30 PM.
Reece Oxford (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Our other young loanee, Reece Oxford, was not in action for Borussia Monchengladbach this week, as his side failed to qualify for either The Europa League or The Champions League in last season’s Bundesliga.
So, with our loan lowdown complete, how will our stars perform next week in their time away from East London?