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Leek Town hand shock debut to ex-Stoke, Derby, Birmingham, Middlesbrough player

Leek Town hands a shock debut to an ex-Stoke, Derby, Birmingham, Middlesbrough player in the FA Trophy which took place this weekend.

The former Premier League defender Ryan Shotton, who turned 32 on Friday, has been a free agent since leaving Teesside in the summer.

It turns out that he is the owner of the Black Lion pub in Cheddleton, which is based in the Staffordshire Moorlands, near to the town of Leek.

In turn and with him out of action lately, he was persuaded by manager Neil Baker to play out for his local side against Evesham United.

In came into the injury-hit squad, with defender Darren Chadwick out with a hamstring and Jack Wakefield still recovering from a knock to the ankle.

Shotton was name din the starting 11 in front of an attendance of 271 but couldn’t prevent the opposition from winning. A hat-trick from Harry Franklin put the hosts 3-0 up before Leek got two back thanks to Will Saxon and James Kirby with 20 minutes remaining.

Leek had been on a 5 game winning streak and hope to continue their fine form in the league, however the season looks set to be put on hold again with a second lockdown nationwide expected.

Shotton was last at Middlesbrough, making just over 80 appearances over three years, however missed the end of last season through injury.

An exit was agreed in mid-July and Neil Warnock said: “Ryan was absolutely fantastic against Millwall last week and he gave us everything against Bristol City at the weekend.

“With him not being 100 percent fit, he feels vulnerable to an injury that could prevent him from getting him a contract elsewhere. I’m disappointed, but I fully understand his thinking.”

Baker has already re-signed Dan Trickett-Smith, the one-time Liverpool big hope, on loan from Port Vale until January.

He said earlier this week: “We had heard he might be available, but I thought it might be tough to get him back purely because of the level we play at.

“I felt that Vale might want him to play higher, and that could be the case with Dan.

“But his primary concern was playing football and he enjoyed his previous spell with us.

“The beauty about bringing in a good new player is that it lifts the standards of others.

“It’s amazing when they come to training for the first time and they (the players) are all at it and raise their games to show what they are about.

“I’ve got some really good attacking options. There’s four good forwards and the attacking midfielders, so I’m fortunate that I can change things around if needed and not weaken the team.”

PLAYING CAREER:

2007–2015 – Stoke City – 48 games (1 goal)
2007–2008 → Altrincham (loan) – 34 games (5 goals)
2008–2009 → Tranmere Rovers (loan) – 33 games (5 goals)
2009–2010 → Barnsley (loan) – 30 games (0 goals)
2013 → Wigan Athletic (loan) – 9 games (1 goal)
2014 → Derby County (loan) – 12 games (2 goals)
2015–2016 – Derby County – 19 games (0 goals)
2016 → Birmingham City (loan) – 9 games (1 goal)
2016–2017 – Birmingham City – 44 games (2 goals)
2017–2020 – Middlesbrough – 75 games (1 goal)

Fans quickly took to social media after seeing that Leek Town hand a shock debut to the ex-Stoke, Derby, Birmingham, Middlesbrough player, see what they had to say…

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