– Han ligger foran skjema

Thomas Waddingham ble hentet fra australsk fotball i januar som 19-åring. Han ble sett på som et langsiktig prosjekt, men nå sier John Mousinho at utviklingen har gått raskere enn de trodde.

NYHETER: Thomas Waddingham scoret i sin debut da han kom inn som innbytter i bortekampen mot WBA (25. januar) de siste 33 minuttene. Han spilte totalt 101 minutter fordelt på fem kamper, én av dem fra start, i sesonginnspurten.

Waddingham fikk en kamp fra start også, borte mot Coventry, og han hadde trolig fått flere minutter om han ikke hadde pådratt seg en skade mot slutten av sesongen.

Waddingham var 19 år da han ble signert fra A-League-klubben Brisbane Roar i januar. Nå har han blitt 20 år, han har bursdag i april, og skal bruke sommerens sesongoppkjøring på å vise om han er klar for å bidra i Championship kommende sesong. Alternativet er trolig å la han få en lengre utlånsperiode for å bli vant til engelsk ligafotball.

SE OGSÅ: Thomas Waddinghams spillerprofil

 

John Mousinhos kommentarer om Waddingham

«We love the A-League, absolutely love it. Clearly the A-League is played at a different tempo, the climate is different. Living and playing, operating out of Australia is very, very different to what Tom has experienced coming over here, but he has adjusted really well.

The training load is something we need to get him used to because, when we stick Tom out on the training pitch, he doesn’t hold back, he is all-action, he is at it, every second of every minute of training. We’ve had to adjust that a couple of times, he’s had a couple of issues with his groin and then hamstring, which is more overload than anything else, that is not an action issue. Once he gets used to the training levels, he will be fine.

He’s made an impact, ended up playing games, scored against West Brom and is way ahead of where we thought he would be. Physically, Tom now has a big summer ahead of him, so he needs to make sure he’s fully prepped for that and come back and challenge pre-season.

Tom’s left footed, but is a good finisher off both feet. He’s also a really good size and physicality, but there’s plenty to work on in terms of game understanding. I don’t want him to become Colby Bishop, however he needs to look at the in-possession threat Colby gives. Not just the goal-scoring threat, but the ability to hold the ball up and the ability to really batter defences to give us an outlet. Tom can keep developing that as well, which is something he hasn’t been used to. But he is very, very sharp in and around training and a really good prospect.»