Doncaster Rovers loanee Hakeeb Adelakun has won League Two’s Player of the Month award for February.
The pacey winger, who joined the South Yorkshire club in the January window on loan from Lincoln City, has enjoyed a brilliant start to life as a Doncaster Rovers player, scoring three goals and providing four assists.
Adelakun overcame Walsall’s Emmanuel Adegboyega, Crewe’s Mickey Demetriou and Newport’s Will Evans to clinch the award for the first time.
Prior to the arrival of the 27-year-old, Doncaster were beginning to sleepwalk into a relegation battle. The former Hull City attacker’s first start for the club coincided with the end of a four-match losing run as the side picked up a point on their travels against struggling Sutton United.
Adelakun’s introduction revitalised Grant McCann’s struggling frontline recently wounded by the departure of Mo Faal. The winger set the tone for his magnificent month in his full home debut against Tranmere Rovers. Adelakun got off the mark for his new club in style as he netted the game’s winning goal, calmly rounding keeper Luke Mcgee before rolling the ball into the empty net to seal a 2-1 victory.
The attacker would inspire the Yorkshire side to go unbeaten in February, notching important goals against Salford City and AFC Wimbledon.
While his raw pace and clinical finishing may have been among Doncaster’s greatest assets throughout the month, his most impressive performance in red and white to date showcased his powers of invention on the attack. The loanee recorded a hat-trick of assists as Doncaster Rovers dismantled lowly Grimsby Town 5-1 on the road.
Speaking to The Doncaster Free Press after receiving the award, he said: “It’s exactly what you want to happen when you join a club – just to get going straight away. It’s been great for me and it’s about continuing that now. I’m delighted to have won this award. It’s the first one I’ve had in my career and it’s special that it’s come at a time when we’ve been on a really good run of results.”
In recent years, Doncaster have been a club plagued by bad feeling on and off the pitch. Five seasons ago, in McCann’s first spell at the club, Rovers were narrowly defeated on penalties against Charlton Athletic in a League One play-off semi-final at The Valley.
Having experienced a relative fall from grace in a short period of time, they currently sit 20th in League Two. However, for the first time in years the club, previously beset by negativity on and off the pitch, look to be headed in the right direction.
Adelakun highlighted that there is a good feeling around Doncaster Rovers: “There’s a good buzz around the place. We all see things coming together, the patterns of play that we’ve been working on, they’re coming out and it’s great to see.”
As expected, following the player’s superb run of form, the manager seems to have his sights set on a summer move for the forward. He has said that the ex-Scunthorpe United man is aware of just how much the managerial team appreciates his commitment to the club.
“I think Haks knows how much we think of him. The conversation always, when he was coming in, was about how he would do now.
“We knew he’s out of contract (at Lincoln) in the summer. Sometimes when you take a loan (player) in January and they’ve only got six months left on their deals, clubs don’t let them go or they’ll offer them a new deal before they loan them out.
“He had one or two other clubs after him. It was a bit of a gamble for Haks because he is out of contract in the summer, but he knows he is respected by me and the coaching staff.”
Writers View
Hakeeb Adelakun’s gamble to join Doncaster Rovers has undoubtedly paid off for all involved. Whether you expected the winger to struggle or prosper in a Rovers shirt, he has already surpassed even the most optimistic of expectations. If he can continue to replicate brilliant performance after brilliant performance, they may have significant competition for his signature when the summer transfer window rolls around.
For a fanbase that has had so little to celebrate in recent years, Adelakun’s arrival has provided some excitement in an otherwise disappointing season. In the past, the club have paid the price for being overly reliant on loan players who have gone on to depart the club after just a season. Rovers’ fans once again must try not to be seduced by another temporary fix. Then again, fans up and down the country continue to ‘fall in love with a loan players’ despite knowing that their time at club is often to be short-lived.
