Western Morning News (Saturday)
Houghton impressed by development of Randell
Young Pilgrims midfielder is tipped to get better by his experienced team-mate
PLYMOUTH Argyle academy product Adam Randell has become a first team regular for his hometown club this season and his team-mate Jordan Houghton has predicted there is further improvement to come from the 22-year-old.
Randell has started 16 of tabletopping Argyle’s games in League One and played as a substitute in the other three, with Houghton often alongside him in central midfield.
That has given 27-year-old Houghton a good appreciation of the ability of Randell and the potential for him to keep getting better.
After a successful season-long loan to Torquay United in the National League in 2020/21, Randell made eight starts and 16 appearances off the bench for the Pilgrims in the league last term as he worked his way into the first team reckoning.
He has built on that during the first four months of the current campaign, and even started getting among the goals as well.
Houghton said: “Last season he got the odd game here and there. He probably would have liked more but I think the way his development has gone in this last few months there is no reason why it can’t happen again to be honest.
“He’s doing really well. He has chipped in now with a few goals, which is really important, but some really good performances as well.
“He’s maturing as the games go on and he’s still only 22. I think that loan (to Torquay) he had was really beneficial for him.
“He had that season where I think he played 40-odd games. I had the same where I went out on loan pretty young, 18-19, and got that experience where other boys didn’t and they ended up not having any games.
“If you speak to him he will probably say that was a huge thing for him. He could have stayed here and not touched a ball for the season. It was a brave decision but I’m sure he looks back on it as a big decision.”
Randell has grabbed three goals this season, all of them coming in the last seven games. Houghton, who has yet to get on the scoresheet, knows the importance of defenders and midfielders playing their part in doing that.
Houghton said: “The boys up top are doing really well but we can’t rely on that. We need to pick up some set piece goals, which we are not doing.
“We need to pick up goals from the back, from midfield and hopefully the boys up top can keep doing what they are doing. We are not going to get a promotion if we are just relying two or three players up top to score the goals.”