Time For The First Team?
A fitting farewell for Andy Wilkinson on Monday night brought one particular thing to my attention. That was the calm, clinical finish of young striker Dom Telford.
Telford arrived from Blackpool last summer alongside Mark Waddington as a promising goal-scorer with a good bit of potential. His time at Blackpool saw him progress from first year scholar to first-team player, receiving nominations for the LFE’s goal of the month and goal of the season awards, which included a classy 35-yard chip against Liverpool. By the time he made his move to the Potteries he had 15 senior team league appearances under his belt and a growing reputation as a dangerous attacker.
His pre-season debut for Stoke against Wrexham saw him come off the bench and score an impressive solo goal. Since then he has enjoyed a good season with the under-21’s and will now fly out to Hong Kong to play in the HK Soccer Sevens tournament alongside the likes of Oliver Shenton and Sergio Molina.
This year has proven that, given the opportunity, young players (such as Marcus Rashford) will take their chances when stepping up onto the big stage. If Mark Hughes was to give Telford a couple of appearances during our pre-season in America, is it time that he was integrated into our first team? He could be the ideal candidate to challenge our current strikers who, in truth, had a fairly quiet season last time out.
Written by Thomas Hammersley
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