Chesterfield midfielder makes long-awaited return from injury on loan at National League club

The midfielder re-signed for Chesterfield in the summer after a previous loan spell at the club. But the 23-year-old was sent out to Dagenham and Redbridge on a season-long loan and suffered an ankle injury early on at his time at the National League side.

He was forced off in only his second appearance against Maidenhead United on September 7 and has been sidelined ever since, missing 11 matches.

But the former Arsenal man returned to action on Tuesday night in Dagenham’s 1-0 home win against Colchester United in the Essex Senior Cup. Akinola came on with an hour gone with the score level at 0-0. Assistant manager Stuart Fergus said: “It was great to see Timmy back.”

Dagenham are 13th in the National League and are seven points off the play-offs. Akinola will now be hoping to get some more minutes under his belt when they travel to Tamworth this Saturday.

Akinola is not the only player out on loan in the National League, with Kane Drummond playing regularly at Oldham Athletic and Bailey Hobson starring for Barnet.

It will be interesting to see what Chesterfield do with their loan players in the near future and there could be some decisions to make whether to extend or recall. Town have a number of injuries themselves, and have players on loan from other clubs. The January transfer window opens on the first day of 2025 and this will be the first time the club has been involved in this deadline for six years.