Sonny Finch's MK Dons loan situation clarified after Middlesbrough Under-21s return
Michael Carrick is still expecting Sonny Finch to complete his loan spell at MK Dons and says his recent outing for Middlesbrough's Under-21s was about getting some needed minutes after dropping out of the Dons side.
Finch, 19, has emerged as one of the bright young talents in Boro's academy in recent seasons. To further aid his development this season after a really positive summer on Teesside, Boro sent the young forward on loan to the League Two side this summer.
However, he's yet to start a league game for the Dons and has not made the squad for the last four matches. A change in management seemed to really impact the Boro prospect, with Finch dropping out of favour under new boss Scott Lindsay after Mike Williamson left for Carlisle United.
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As a result, Finch came off the bench on Wednesday evening and looked lively as Boro's under-21s were beaten 1-0 by Lyon in the Premier League International Cup. With a league game against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, and then another International Cup clash against Borussia Monchengladbach next Wednesday, Finch is set to stay on Teesside to build match-sharpness before hopefully heading back down the M1 to fight for his place.
Carrick explained: “He came out of the team at MK Dons after they changed their manager so it was important to keep him ticking over really. He might be here for another week or so and then we’ll see what happens after that. It’s getting the balance right as far as the experience of going out on loan and dealing with the ups and downs of that.
"Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it goes against you, and you’ve got to manage that as a younger player. We felt that just having him back here and getting some game time was important at this time. [The loan] It’s not called off by any stretch."
If Finch does struggle to break back in at Stadium MK, Boro will have a recall option in the January transfer window. However, with Finch having played for Boro this season in the Carabao Cup defeat to Stoke City, they will be unable to find another loan for him this season and he'd be forced to spend the second half of the season with Boro where, injury-crisis aside, he'll likely struggle to break into the first-team picture given Carrick's depth in the final third.