Stockport County have curtailed Jack Stretton’s loan spell at fellow Greater Manchester side Oldham Athletic.
The 23-year-old was allowed to leave Edgeley Park until January, but Dave Challinor’s side have opted to recall him two months earlier than expected. He made 19 appearances for The Hatters last season but with County’s promotion to League One quickly found himself out of the squad and on loan to the National League.
Just Six Minutes Played
Stretton was not given much chance at Oldham, with his only start for the club coming in a National League Cup fixture against Stoke City‘s Academy at the start of the month. He played that full game and then a few weeks later was brought on in the dying embers of the league match against Sutton United, replacing Mike Fondop-Talum for six remaining minutes of added time.
He joined Micky Mellon’s side at the end of August and was only named in six squads for the club. The Latics have preferred Fondop-Talum to lead their attacking output, with the former Wrexham striker already scoring six times this campaign.
The Boundary Park club are faring well in the fifth tier and are currently sixth place going into this weekend’s action, where they welcome Dagenham and Redbridge. No matter the result on Saturday, Oldham will remain in the play-off places.
Writer’s View
Stockport County have rightfully cut this loan short. Jack Stretton had shown a decent amount of promise last season and was unlikely to feature much in League One so The Hatters looked for an alternative for him. For him to just play once in the National League Cup and to have six minutes at the end of a game which was dead rubber is never going to help him get much needed development. Hopefully Dave Challinor and his staff can find him a new move elsewhere where he can regularly get minutes under his belt and contribute in front of goal.
