Arsenal loanee Tim Akinola was widely praised by Chesterfield FC fans after his substitute appearance in a comeback win on Tuesday night.
Tim Akinola was one of a few Arsenal youngsters to go on loan to the National League for this season, joining Chesterfield FC for the campaign.
The 21-year-old midfielder made his debut as a substitute against Oldham Athletic on September 3rd, helping them to see out a 2-0 win. He then made another substitute appearance on Tuesday in more difficult circumstances.
When Akinola came on, Chesterfield were 2-1 down to Southend United and down to 10 men, but they quickly turned things around.
Within 10 minutes of Akinola’s arrival, the hosts were 3-2 up, and they saw out the victory to earn another three points and stay top of the table.
Many Chesterfield fans were impressed with what they saw from the Arsenal man:
He did a really good job when he came on, what was needed when down to 10 men. Put a shift in and broke down Southend’s attack.
— Joe Ryan (@J03Ryan) September 13, 2022
https://twitter.com/ffscurt/status/1569800007477256192
Akinola needs a song….
— St Albans Spireite (@AL2Spireite) September 13, 2022
Akinola was even listed as a Man of the Match nominee by a number of supporters, despite only playing 31 minutes:
DJ, Kingy, Quigley, Akinola
— Liam Coles (@colesey_) September 13, 2022
King quigley or maybe Akinola looked good when he came on
— alex (@Alex_james_8) September 13, 2022
https://twitter.com/AndrewWake79/status/1569805737311748096
Thought Akinola and Uchegbulam were class when they came on, but for pure work rate, its a toss up between DJ and Quigley!
— Jason Hancock (@JasonHa44339658) September 13, 2022
It’s never easy to break into a team at the top of their league, but Chesterfield’s red card and 2-1 deficit may have given Akinola the perfect platform to win the fans over.
It will be interesting to see whether he now makes the starting lineup against Yeovil on Saturday.