Stoke City and Championship rivals will have been keeping a keen eye on which loan players have been impressing in League One over the first half of the season to see who is ready to step up and make a difference in January.

It is a decent list of young Premier League talent that has benefited from a spell in the third tier over the last few years, with Morgan Rogers now shining at Aston Villa, Brennan Johnson playing for Tottenham and Ian Maatsen moving from Chelsea to Villa for nearly £40 million in the summer.

Stoke, at this stage in the club's Financial Fair Play cycle, will have to be aware to the best available talent to borrow or which prospects might be affordable to come in on a permanent basis. We have run through the ones who are impressing at the moment to see if any can work their way into Stoke's crosshairs when the market opens on New Year's Day.

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Louie Barry, 21, forward, on loan at Stockport from Aston Villa (20 apps, 14 goals, one assist)

The stand out player in League One and a regular scorer to help newly-promoted Stockport compete for a top six spot.

Can play out wide or through the middle and has already been linked with January moves to Leeds, Middlesbrough or Derby County.

Stockport boss Dave Challinor told BBC Radio Manchester: "When you take a player on loan, especially from a Premier League club, the reality is you know what you're getting going into.

"We obviously hope that he can stay with us and score another 15 goals in the back end of the season and quite selfishly say that monetises his value more than going to a Championship club and not playing the same amount of minutes that he's having here.

"That's a decision that's out of our control."

Cameron Humpheys, 21, central midfielder, on loan at Wycombe from Ipswich (14 (2) apps, four goals, four assists)

A key player in midfield as Wycombe bid for promotion and the League One title.

“I was talking to Conor Chaplin about how well Cameron's doing at Wycombe and I think the surprise levels in the dressing room are really, really low," Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna. told the East Anglian Daily Times.

"I think everyone internally here was clear about how ready Cameron was and how he was performing and training. He just needed that opportunity to go and play a week in, week out. And he's grabbing it with both hands at the moment.

“He's helping the team do well and, of course, the team doing well helps a young player out on loan, so it's very positive. I'm sure there'll be some ups and downs, but he's having a really good experience.”

Caleb Taylor, 21, centre-back, on loan at Wycombe from West Brom (14 (1) apps, one goal)

Could be recalled by West Brom, who will be without injured Semi Ajayi until well into the new year.

BirminghamLive report: "Taylor has been a big part in high-flying Wycombe’s ascension to the top of League One, even above big spending Birmingham City, and scored his first goal in the 4-1 romp over Shrewsbury at the weekend. He has played 15 times in a defence that has kept six clean sheets so far.

"He is highly rated at the club, both by coaches and supporters, and it is no surprise given he has all the attributes to make it at this level. He is tall, strong and good on the ball. Albion showed how much they rate him when they gave the 21-year-old academy graduate a new four-year contract until the summer of 2028."

Tristan Crama, 23, centre-back, on loan at Exeter from Brentford (18 apps, two goals)

The 6ft 4in centre-back, who Brentford brought in from France in 2020, has stepped up another level after spending last season on loan at Bristol Rovers.

Exeter boss Gary Caldwell told DevonLive: “Tristan is outstanding. He has potential to be a top top defender in the Premier League. Since he has come in has grown every week and we are helping his development. I still think more to come but what he is doing defensively and goals from corners has been superb.”

Nigel Lonwijk, 22, centre-back, on loan at Huddersfield from Wolves (14 apps, one assist)

It hasn't all been plain sailing for Lonwijk at Huddersfield this year but he has shown glimpses of his potential.

Huddersfield manager Michael Duff said recently: “I think Nigel has been good. He got taken out of the team. We had quite a long conversation with him, showed him a few bits and bobs. He is a good player but sometimes he wants to look good, sometimes he relies on his pace, sometimes he is a bit lazy and doesn’t do his work early enough.

“So we showed him and in the last two performances, probably because he has had a kick up the backside, he has done his work early and all of a sudden he looks like a good player.

“The level he wants to go and play at his parent club, I don’t care who you are, if you give some of those players in that league a yard you aren’t catching them. So don’t get lazy, don’t get sloppy.

“But we believe he is a good player. One of the conversations we had. He won the league two years ago with Plymouth. I said to him why are you still in League One? His body shape is still the same, he hasn’t developed that. He is still a little bit sloppy, he is still a little bit lazy.

“So that is why he is still in League One so he needs to improve his body shape, he needs to get bigger and stronger, he needs to get better habits, use the ball quicker and then he might end up in the Championship.

“Our job is to try and when he goes back to Wolves, they go corr we have noticed a difference in him because from a selfish point we will get the next one out of Wolves then because they trust the work you are doing with them. Like we said, we do work with them.”

Jack Currie, 22, left-back, on loan at Leyton Orient from Oxford (13 (1) apps)

Signed for Oxford from AFC Wimbledon in the summer and was then sent to Leyton Orient to ensure he kept picking up enough regular minutes at this stage of his development.

Des Buckingham, who was in charge at Oxford until last weekend, said when he sanctioned the move: “Jack will be a very important player to us at this club, and I don’t mean that long-term. I mean now and the medium-term.

“What I didn’t want to do was stifle his development in terms of game time, so whether it’s until January or not, getting him out and playing games at League One is a good level for him, rather than sitting here and continuing training, and maybe picking up the odd minute here and there in certain games."

Luke Chambers, 20, left-back, on loan at Wigan from Liverpool (10 apps, one goal, one assist)

Currently in the treatment room due to a back injury but he had already showed why he is highly regarded at Liverpool.

Wigan boss Shaun Maloney said in pre-season: "Luke was outstanding (on loan) for us last season, and we worked very hard over the summer to bring him back. He is an extremely talented player, who already understands the values of our club."

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