Spurs loan watch: Saturday Championship round-up

This Saturday afternoon, Ashley Phillips' Stoke City and Dane Scarlett's Oxford United were in action, as they faced Middlesbrough away and Burnley at home respectively.

Despite the concussion protocols saying a player can return to play after exactly one week, Phillips was not in the squad for the trip to Middlesbrough. Whilst no injury has been officially mentioned, you would like to hope that was the reason - rather than the new manager not currently fancying him. In Phillips' absence, Stoke were condemned to a 2-0 defeat, having won 5-0 with him there in the Carabao Cup.

Spurs loan watch: Saturday Championship round-up

Elsewhere, Scarlett was again on the bench for Oxford in their tricky home game against Burnley. He did get more minutes, at least, coming on as a substitute for Mark Harris in a like-for-like change, though was understandably not able to make an impact on the game. In any case, Des Buckingham's side were able to pick up a very solid point, continuing their impressive run at home. Their ten points from four home games can only be bettered by Blackburn Rovers in the Championship this season.

These results leave Stoke 20th in the Championship, with six points from seven games, whilst Oxford sit in 11th place, with ten points from their seven games so far.

Next up for Stoke is a home game against newly promoted Portsmouth on Wednesday night, with kick-off being 19:45 BST. Let's hope that Phillips has recovered from injury, or is back in the manager's plans for this game. Portsmouth are second from bottom with four points from seven games, so this represents a great chance for new manager Narcis Pelach to get his first win since taking over.

As for Oxford, their next game is a trip to Luton Town on Tuesday night, as they face their second recently relegated side in a row. With a 19:45 BST kick-off. Despite their impressive home form, Oxford are one of three teams not to pick up a single point on the road this season, so this will be a tough challenge, despite Luton's struggles since coming back down.