Chapman loaned to Oldham

CHELTENHAM Town midfielder Ellis Chapman has joined Oldham Athletic on loan for an initial month.

The 21-year-old has made two League One starts for the Robins this season, along with a further three outings from the bench and four cup appearances.

He was sent off in the final moments of the 2-1 home defeat by Oxford United on August 27.

Chapman went on from the bench five minutes from the end of last Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town, but will now join National League Latics in search of regular first team football, and played the full game in their 0-0 draw at Maidstone United on Saturday.

Chapman, who signed a new two-year contract in the summer, joined Cheltenham from Lincoln City for a small fee in October 2020.

He was part of the squad that won the League Two title in 2020/21, followed by the highest finish in the club’s history of 15th in the third tier last term.

“What we’ve seen is Bondsy (Elliot Bonds) went out last year and got a run of games at Kidderminster and really benefitted,” said head coach Wade Elliott.

“Reece Hutchinson went out this season, had some games at Ilkeston and benefitted from it. Hopefully Ellis can go and get some games between now and

Christmas and hopefully it’ll do him the power of good.

“We are strong in that department. Bondsy has really kicked on since coming back from Kidderminster.

“We have Dan Adshead, who we think is a really good player, TP (Taylor Perry) has been excellent for us and we have Sercs (Liam Sercombe) and Broomy (Ryan Broom) and James Olayinka.

“The competition in that area of the pitch has gone up. It’s a good opportunity to go and get some games.

“Ellis has loads of time to develop. I don’t really like talking about potential, but Ellis has loads of attributes and that window for potential, from 21 onwards, starts to diminish.

“He is tall, athletic, he has a good left foot, he has lots of attributes. Hopefully, Oldham will give him the opportunity to start putting them together and get a run of performances.”

Oldham manager David Unsworth said: “We’ve been watching Ellis for a while. He’s a player with great pedigree and knows how to get promoted.

“We thought we might have got Ellis in last week but we couldn’t get the deal done in time. We’re really looking forward to working with him.

“He can play wide or inside, he’s got a great left foot and we’re delighted to get another quality player over the line.”