Tim Akinola ended his loan spell at Chesterfield FC with an appearance in the National League play-off final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Arsenal loanee Tim Akinola has had an interesting campaign with Chesterfield FC this season, and one which is hard to put your finger on.

For the first few months of the season, the Chesterfield fans seemed to be frustrated that Akinola wasn’t getting more minutes on the pitch. He was earning praise whenever he was involved, yet he found it difficult to get into the starting lineup.

That finally started to change in February, as the midfielder got a run of games with seven starts in the space of nine fixtures.

Yet the 22-year-old was then completely dropped from the Chesterfield squad, despite reportedly being fit.

Just when it looked like Akinola’s season might be over early, he returned to the squad for the final three games of the regular season – albeit only making appearances as a substitute.

When the play-offs started, Akinola dropped out of the squad again, only to return for the final against Notts County at Wembley Stadium.

Seemingly not trusted in the final two months of the league campaign, Akinola found himself coming on at Wembley Stadium for the final 30 minutes of extra time, the most important moment of Chesterfield’s season.

Soon after Akinola’s introduction, Chesterfield took a 2-1 lead through Armando Dobra. But it wouldn’t last, with Notts County equalising 12 minutes from time, before winning on penalties.

That brought Akinola’s loan spell to an end, with talk of interest in him from the English Football League, Austria, and Israel ahead of the summer window.

It’s hard to assess Akinola’s season, as he seemed well-liked by the fans, yet he clearly never entirely won over the manager. He ended up making 31 appearances, but only 11 starts.

Whether or not this year is viewed as a success may well depend on what happens next, starting with this summer.