Goodison View: Jarrad Branthwaite faces first roadblock en route to Everton stardom
Jarrad Branthwaite enjoyed a brilliant start to life on loan at Blackburn Rovers but the Everton loanee must now deal with the humiliation of being dropped.
The 18-year-old drew his first game for the Lancashire side before shutting out Middlesbrough and Luton in back-to-back 1-0 wins as he made an instant impact at Ewood Park following his January arrival.
But things took a turn for the worse and Tony Mowbray’s team endured a five-game losing streak before breaking the spell with a draw against Coventry on Saturday.
However Branthwaite was dropped for their game with Reading on Tuesday with Taylor Harwood-Bellis preferred as Darragh Lenihan’s partner.
At 19 and also on loan from a Premier League club (Manchester City), Harwood-Bellis is at a similar stage of his career to Branthwaite and the duo look set to compete for the rest of the season.
It is vital for his development that Branthwaite wins this battle and shows why he is so higly-rated at Goodison Park.
With Yerry Mina injured and putting in some poor performances for the Blues there could be a spot for him in the Blues squad next season.
Mason Holgate and Ben Godfrey are primed for a fight to be Michael Keane’s partner and with the prospect of European football on the horizon, Carlo Ancelotti will need a big squad to keep up with the amount of fixtures that could be on offer.
Even if he is not selected for the first-team squad at Everton Branthwaite will be looking for another Championship loan at least, so he must impress potential suitors.
Blackburn did not exactly sparkle in his absence, losing 1-0 to Reading and there is every chance he could return to the fold v Millwall on Saturday.
It will be the perfect show of his character if he is picked and bounces back to form and inspires a Rovers recovery.
At Goodison News we are backing Branthwaite for a big future and think he will come through this first hurdle of this career with ease.
In other Everton news, Blues chasing the signature of Stuttgart star Silas Wamangituka.