Livi seal loan deal with goalie Ryan
Schofield has impressed at Huddersfield
Livingston have made their first signing of the January transfer window as goalkeeper Ryan Schofield arrives on loan from Huddersfield Town.
The 20-year-old will replace Matija Sarkic, who was recalled by his parent club Aston Villa after they cut short his seasonlong loan deal with the Scottish Premiership side.
Schofield has represented England at under-18, under-19 and under- 20 level and is considered a top prospect.
The youngster has featured twice for the Championship outfit this season, including keeping a clean sheet on his league debut against Middlesbrough.
He spent the second half of last season on loan at Notts County in League Two and will look to continue his development in the Scottish top flight for the remainder of the current campaign.
He made 17 appearances for County but was unable to prevent them from being relegated out of the Football League for the first time in their history.
He has also previously spent time on loan at seventh tier sides FC United of Manchester and Telford, but played just eight combined league fixtures for the two clubs.
Schofield travelled out with the team to their winter training camp in La Manga and could feature in friendlies against Jong Ajax and Anderlecht.
Livi are enjoying a weeklong training camp before travelling back on Monday to begin preparations for the Scottish Cup fixture against Raith Rovers when they return from the winter break.
Speaking to Livingston’s official website, the young keeper said the opportunity was ‘too good to turn down’.
He commented: “The deal happened quite quickly but as soon as I heard about it I was ready to go and get started.
“It’s valuable as a young goalkeeper to get games and I want to kick on and hopefully rack up some games, if possible.”
He added: “I think the opportunity was too good to turn down when you look at the teams in the league and the profile of the league.
“Everyone’s in it together here and that’s something I like when approaching games.”
Meanwhile, the club missed out on signing Trevor Carson to a pre-contract.
Livi had been keen to get the Northern Ireland international in for next season but the stopper has committed his future to the Well by agreeing a two-year extension to his deal.