This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…
Garry Monk’s reign as Sheffield Wednesday boss has got off to a pretty decent start as the Championship takes a break for the second group of international matches in the 2019/20 calendar.
The 40-year-old has steered his side to ten points from a possible 15, which sees them sit one point outside of a playoff position.
As highlighted here, Monk has acted shrewdly with a methodical approach to things, considering he’s inherited this whole squad from former manager Steve Bruce and caretaker boss Lee Bullen.
The Owls’ chief has started by shoring up their defence, and now he should be able to move onto his attack.
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It’s a part of the pitch that will be bolstered by the return of Fernando Forestieri this weekend as Steven Fletcher may finally be able to receive a regular and more solid partner up top.
However, they still lack proper depth out wide as they only have three wingers for two positions, with Kadeem Harris and Adam Reach often being preferred over Jacob Murphy with the pair both starting ten or more games this season.
This sort of hierarchy often allows complacency to creep in, and with the January transfer window still a while away, it may be wise for Monk to call up a promising youngster from the academy to help stop that from occurring.
He has the perfect player in wait too in Fraser Preston, who has had a taste of first-team football in the past.
The 20-year-old has made three appearances for them in the Championship, all of which came last season, per Transfermarkt.
Monk is known for bringing through youngsters at a club – he had a part in Jude Bellingham’s rise at Birmingham while Lewis Wing was brought into the fray while he was in charge of Middlesbrough.
Preston’s attacking threat can be most displayed by this corker of a goal he scored back in 2018 for the U23s.
Wednesday’s website describes him as a ‘pacey winger’ so that gives an indication of the type of direct player Monk would have on his hands.
It may be a good idea to bring him into the senior setup, particularly as there have been doubts over Newcastle United loanee Murphy and with Reach being very much a marmite figure at Hillsborough.