Loan Watch: Saints loanees start their campaigns
With the 2023/24 season well underway, take the first look at how Southampton's loanees have started their campaigns across the football pyramid and abroad in the return of our comprehensive Loan Watch...
Starting in League Two, two of Saints' Under-21s have embarked on the first EFL loans of their careers.
Nico Lawrence has made an impressive start to life at Colchester United, despite results not going the way of the U's yet so far.
The young defender made his debut as a halt-time substitute against Championship side Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup.
With the scores locked at 2-2, he kept a clean sheet in the second half as his side were unfortunately knocked out on penalties.
In the league, Lawrence then started and played the full 90 minutes in each of the three games that have followed, playing in his natural centre-back position in defeats against Bradford City and AFC Wimbledon.
He was then deployed in a defensive midfield role last weekend against MK Dons, as the U's were beaten 3-2 in a cruel fashion, conceding an 88th minute equaliser and the winner in the 10th minute of injury time.
Elsewhere in League Two, Lewis Payne made his debut as a late substitute for Newport County in their 4-0 victory over Doncaster Rovers ten days ago.
Down two divisions in the National League South, Ollie Wright has had an eventful start to life as Bath City's first choice goalkeeper.
On the opening day of the season, he made some key stops in a six-goal thriller that ended 3-3 against Dartford.
He followed that with his best performance so far in a 3-0 victory over recently-relegated Maidstone United, which included a penalty save just before half time that kept The Romans's two-goal lead at the time.
A shock defeat against Weston-super-Mare followed, but Wright and Bath responded last weekend with a 2-1 victory over Eastbourne Borough as Saints' shot-stopper made two vital saves in the closing stages.
Elsewhere in the world, first team loanees Duje Ćaleta-Car and Mateusz Lis have started their seasons with Lyon and Göztepe respectively.
Ćaleta-Car's Lyon side are still searching for their first points of the Ligue 1 campaign after suffering defeats against Strasbourg and Montpellier, with the Croatian starting in both matches.
Meanwhile, Lis's start to life in the Turkish TFF First League came in a narrow defeat against Sakaryaspor, but that was followed up with his first clean sheet last weekend in a goalless draw with Ümraniyespor.
Main image: Colchester United/Richard Blaxall
