Southampton loanee Jake Hesketh was on target again for Burton Albion this evening as they progressed in the Carabao Cup.
The League One outfit have reached the final eight of the competition for the first time with the 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest this evening, with the young Saints man scoring an emphatic effort in the second half to push Albion’s lead back to 3-1 at the time.
It comes after Hesketh scored a sublime solo effort against his parent club’s rivals Portsmouth, meaning the youngster is in a rich vein of form and showing off some of that potential we’ve seen when he’s been given cameo roles in the senior team.
The Burton game came on the same day that Southampton’s League Cup tie against Leicester City was postponed due to the tragic helicopter crash at the weekend that saw the Foxes’ chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha sadly pass away.
Southampton have somewhat lost their touch with giving academy graduates chances in the main team – Matt Targett has barely featured despite the Saints insisting on keep hold of the full-back amid interest from Fulham.
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Furthermore, Sam Gallagher has remained with the squad despite seeing McQueen and Sims loaned out but outside of 20 minutes in the Carabao Cup against Brighton we haven’t seen much of the physical forward.
Nonetheless, Hesketh fills a role which the Saints are dangerously thin in with their first-team squad – the number 10. Stuart Armstrong is the only player naturally capable of playing in that role behind the strikers, having sold Dusan Tadic to Ajax over the summer.
Therefore, if the 22-year-old Hesketh can keep up this scoring form he may force his hand into contention next year as his creative exploits simply have to be noticed by the manager.
If Burton can defy all the odds and progress to the final four of the Carabao Cup then the playmaker will only draw more and more attention for his work and therefore the Saints may be forced to make a decision on either selling him or playing him. This is assuming that he can keep up this form we’ve seen from him, which includes that impressive volley over Forest tonight.