How is Southampton’s Will Ferry getting on in Crawley loan spell?

Southampton full-back Will Ferry chose to take a season-long loan spell with Crawley Town at the beginning of 2021/22 to aid his development.

The 20-year-old has made Saints first-team squads under Ralph Hasenhuttl but needed a taste of senior football to enable him to take the next steps in his career, and that looks to be what he is doing now.

Ferry has made 10 starts and 14 appearances in all for Crawley Town so far and has played a part in four wins. Three assists and one goal have also come from him as he plays mainly left-midfield and right-midfield roles for his temporary side.

He did not play on Tuesday night as Southampton’s B team – including many of Ferry’s teammates from last season – dismantled Crawley’s senior team by a scoreline of 4-0 in the EFL Trophy.

Southampton’s Ferry making strides on club and international stage

With five wins, two draws and eight losses to date, Crawley Town sit in 18th place in League Two and will be wanting Ferry to have contributed even more to rise up the table come May.

The importance of this loan spell was summed up by Crawley manager John Yems, who emphasised the need for young players to get an early taste of competitive football (as written by the Daily Echo).

Good experiences have also come on the international stage recently for Ferry as he continues to gain recognition for the Republic of Ireland’s Under-21s. He has started three of their four European Championship Qualifiers so far and has also been called up to play in November’s fixtures too.

Given that he has been around the first-team in the recent past, Southampton will know whether they see Ferry returning as a player to compete for senior places ahead of next season.

Competition is fierce in the full-back and wing positions where the 20-year-old has played much of his career, but he will be determined to make a considerable impact during the rest of his loan spell and once he returns to Staplewood in the summer.