Wycombe Wanderers have handed a trial to 23-year-old Jake Gray, who left Yeovil Town at the end of last season.
Yeovil’s respected Ciderspace site reports that Gareth Ainsworth has handed the former Crystal Palace trainee a trial, completing a full circle. He began life at Wycombe before joining Palace as a youngster.
He didn’t break through at Selhurst Park and had loan spells with Hartlepool and Cheltenham before a permanent move to Luton Town in 2016. he made 28 appearances for the Hatters as they were defeated in the play-offs, resulting in a switch to Yeovil.
He scored six times in 71 appearances for the Glovers but endured relegation last season after finishing bottom of League Two. That’s prompted his release and Ainsworth’s interest.
The former QPR man spoke of giving trial players a chance to impress in an interview with the club website earlier today.
“We were littered with trialists, but I was quite impressed with one or two of them,” he said of the 1-1 draw with Barnet at the weekend.
“There’s a lot to football that I need to see from them if we’re going to take it further, but we are looking to bring in some more new signings and get some of our injured lads back in the side as quickly as possible.”
It’s also thought that former Yeovil man Bevis Mugabe could have been on trial with the Chairboys too, although that has yet to be confirmed.
Our View
Trials are a chance for players without a good record behind them to impress with attitude and application.
I think it’s fair to say that three seasons in League Two and relegation doesn’t give Gray the best of CVs, but if he turns out for the Chairboys and impresses the manager he could turn his career around.
Look at Freddie Ladapo; he had fallen down to the sixth tier of the English game but earned a trial with Crystal Palace and ended up appearing against Manchester United. this, after being moved on by Kidderminster Harriers.
Who knows, Jake Gray might just thrive back where it all began for him.
