Cheltenham Town have reinforced their squad this summer in the form of a season-long loan move for Taine Anderson.
It marks the first loan move for the 19-year-old full-back, who joined Bristol City from the age of seven and has progressed through the youth ranks at Ashton Gate. He was recently part of the squad which reached the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup, losing to eventual winners Manchester City.
Cheltenham Loan Move Nears
According to Gloucestershire Live, Anderson is set to become the third face through the door at Whaddon Road this season, and is joining the squad in training on Monday morning and has met his new teammates. A left-back by trade, he joins as competition to Ryan Haynes, who arrived last summer on a free transfer but had limited game time for the club.
The Robins have already completed their first two games of pre-season, beating Bishop’s Cleeve 4-1 before losing 2-0 to Worcester City, and will face Evesham Town later this week. Michael Flynn’s side have already confirmed two deals, with the signatures of former Lincoln City and Bradford City man Lee Angol as well as Robbie Cundy from Notts County.
Town’s opening game of the season comes against Cambridge United as they look to improve on a 15th-place finish last season. It seems likely that the club will have new investment by the time they visit the Abbey Stadium, with a period of exclusivity agreed with a potential investor.
Writers’ View
This is a great way for Cheltenham Town to add to their squad with promising loanees. Taine Anderson is an untested player with no senior appearances to his name but Michael Flynn clearly has faith in him to make the step up into League Two after his youth experience with Bristol City. Pre-season will allow a greater assessment of where he is at right now and could be called upon regularly at left-back heading into the season.
