In the latest round-up of our players out on loan, there is a debut for a teenager in the Championship and an impressive performance for a defender in the Potteries, while Ian Maatsen's Burnley rise to the top of England's second tier…

Dujon Sterling started his fourth consecutive game for Stoke City as the Potters won 2-0 away at Preston North End in the Championship. The 22-year-old has been in impressive form in recent weeks deployed in a variety of defensive roles, most recently at right wing-back at Deepdale as Alex Neil’s side continue their climb up the table.

His display in helping Stoke to a first clean sheet in four matches earned particular praise from the his boss, with Neil saying afterwards: ‘Dujon, for me, is arguably one of the best one-on-one defenders I’ve seen. There are few players who get past him – he is strong, powerful and determined.’

Teenage debut

Also in England’s second tier, there was a Hull City debut for Xavier Simons, who came off the bench for the final nine minutes as the Tigers were beaten 2-0 at home by Birmingham City. The midfielder made his Blues bow last term in our Carabao Cup tie away at his former club Brentford in December.

Nathan Baxter was in goal for the fifth game running as Hull slipped to just a point and a place outside the bottom three.

At the other end of the table, Ian Maatsen and Burnley continued a promising start to the season with a 4-0 victory over Burnley. The Dutchman played all but the final five minutes of the big win at Turf Moor, which saw the Clarets move to the top of the standings on goal difference.

In Europe

On the continent, Ethan Ampadu played the duration of a 2-2 draw for Spezia against Cremonese in Serie A. The young Welshman was used as a centre-back in the game as the side from northern Italy keep a little distance between themselves and the drop zone.

Callum Hudson-Odoi started for Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League last midweek but couldn’t help the Germans from falling to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Porto, leaving them bottom of the group but still only three points off the top two. The forward was then absent for the 5-1 Bundesliga defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend.

In France, Malang Sarr played 90 minutes for Monaco in a 4-0 loss to Trabzonspor in the Europa League, during which he scored an unfortunate own goal when the goalkeeper played the ball directly against him with a clearance. He was an unused sub for the 1-1 draw with Clermont in Ligue 1.

Mixed fortunes

Back in England, there was a win and a defeat for Lucas Bergstrom as Peterborough United beat Forest Green Rovers 4-1 before falling to a 3-1 defeat at Wycombe Wanderers.

Jamie Cumming, another Chelsea Academy goalkeeper currently plying his trade in League One, featured in back-to-back losses for MK Dons, 1-0 to Bristol Rovers and 4-1 to Plymouth Argyle.

In League Two, Sam McClelland was again a starter at the back as Barrow suffered a narrow 2-1 reverse at the hands of Rochdale.