Thursday 20 August 2015 10:43, UK
As the Sky Bet Football League season begins to gain momentum, Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe picks his top five players to watch this season.
Diego Fabbrini - Middlesbrough
Fabbrini is a hugely important loan signing. There’s talk of Jordan Rhodes, but with the Italian coming in and scoring goals immediately, I can see Middlesbrough having a very good start to the season. David Nugent’s signed as well but Fabbrini and Kike look a good partnership.
As a loan signing, you don’t know how long that partnership could last. Fabbrini’s scored some terrific goals as well so he’s one that really caught the eye. Middlesbrough is a team that will do well this season.
Sam Baldock - Brighton
Unfortunately for Baldock, he has had a lot of injury problems but is a perfect fit for how they’re looking to play. They’ve got Tomer Hemed, who is going to lead the line for them and Baldock’s going to be the player that plays off him. He’s a player that, if they can keep him fit, could maybe make Brighton a little bit of a surprise package this season. It would be nice to see him have a season where he doesn’t have injury problems.
This tends to be the problem with good players. They pick up an injury and they never fully get back to their best. Baldock’s one that’s completed pre-season and evidently he’s fully fit now. I saw him on the opening day against Nottingham Forest and the first thing I look for is his work rate. I think he’s fit enough to play the role that they want him to do. He’s not worried about his injuries and he has talent, real finishing talent. He’s another one that I think could have an influential season.
Adam Armstrong – Coventry
Armstrong was on the fringes at Newcastle but this is what happens with young players, they need to get out playing regular football. It is all well and good playing at a Premier League club, training with these great players, but you can’t get away from match time. He’s not played in the Premier League or actually played much for Newcastle so far.
The standard of football in League One is a lot better than it used to be, managers really like to play so a good player can very quickly look very good because it’s not all kick and rush. It’s not all long ball but rather very good, technical football.
He’s fitted in perfectly. Armstrong, over the last few weeks of the season, has been excellent and that’s a major reason why Coventry have started really well.
Michail Antonio – Nottingham Forest
Last season Antonio really carried Nottingham Forest. He was absolutely fantastic in terms of his creativity and his goals. He's scoring goals again this season, but Forest have got problems keeping hold of him - the 25-year-old is set for talks with the club amid reported interest from Derby.
He was Forest’s best player on the opening day when they didn’t play well. With all the key players missing he is absolutely pivotal. Forest have a strong squad and when they get players back they have a chance.
Forest boss Dougie Freedman will be thinking unless they get a seriously big bid, then they need to try their best to keep hold of him. He’s like Bakary Sako, he can make a good team very good with what he can do with his pace and power. If he scores 15-20 goals this season there there will be no way they can keep hold of him because the offers will come in like they did with Sako at Wolves.
Joe Mason – Cardiff
Joe Mason could be a very important player for Cardiff. Playing off big strikers Alex Revell and Kenwyne Jones, Mason is one of those No 10s who does not just run in behind an opposition's defence.
He can play wide and his work-rate is astonishing. This season he will get many, many more games because of the type of player that he is. He’s one to keep an eye on.
With the work rate he has, it will put him in the position to score goals and the way that Cardiff play will play to his strengths as well.
