Oxford Mail

The 21-year-old striker spent the first half of the season on loan at United, where he netted four times in 20 Sky Bet Championship appearances, and was recalled by Spurs on January 20.

Upon returning to the Premier League side, Scarlett scored his first Spurs goal on January 30 as his header sparked a 3-0 victory in the Europa League group stage at home against Elfsborg, ensuring progress to the last 16 of the competition.

Scarlett has made a further four appearances for Spurs, all from the bench, including one in the Europa League.

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The striker was an unused substitute as Spurs beat Manchester United 1-0 in the Europa League final in Bilbao last night.

A goal from Brennan Johnson three minutes before half-time proved to be the difference between the sides, who have both struggled domestically this season. The Red Devils are 16th in the Premier League, with Spurs a place further back with just one game to go.

Spurs though ended a 17-year wait for a trophy, having previously won the Carling Cup in 2008, and follow in the footsteps of the club’s UEFA Cup winners of 1972 and 1984, while also qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

The 20-year-old striker was recalled from his loan spell at Oxford United on January 20, having scored four goals in 22 appearances across all competitions.

Just seven of his games were starts in Sky Bet Championship, while Scarlett featured in only three league games out of a possible six after Rowett was appointed U’s head coach.

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Scarlett has since netted his first goal for Spurs, in a Europa League win at home against Elfsborg, and was a substitute for Richarlison in a Premier League victory at Brentford earlier this month.

Having featured for Spurs, it meant Scarlett could only play for either Ange Postecoglou’s side or United between now and the end of the season.

Asked if there was a chance of Scarlett returning to the U’s following his recall, Rowett responded: “Decisions were made by other clubs. Decisions were made by us. You roll with that.

“At that point, we would’ve had potentially four or five players who can play as a number nine.

“Is there such a huge difference between all of those players in terms of one being so much better than the other? I’m not so sure.

“You can always look back when you pick an injury up and say what if, but ultimately you have to make those decisions, and also you would’ve ended up with two or three players, good players, out of the squad every week, and I don’t think that’s fair.

“It is what it is, and we’ll make do with what we’ve got.”

The 20-year-old striker was recalled from his loan spell at Oxford United earlier this month, having netted four times in 22 appearances across all competitions for the U’s.

Scarlett opened the scoring for Spurs on his first appearance for the club since his return, four minutes after coming on as a 66th minute substitute for Romanian defender Radu Dragusin.

The former United loanee then grabbed an assist for Damola Ajayi with six minutes to go, while Mikey Moore netted a third in stoppage time for Spurs, who progressed to the round of 16.

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Scarlett told TNT Sports after the game: “It’s amazing. I’ve been waiting for that moment for a long time. I’ve been on loan and got to experience men’s football, and I feel really good now. I’m ready to kick on.

“I’ve been training hard, with a clear mind, and just focusing on getting my opportunity. Today it came, and I’m grateful, and I’m happy the team won.”

Scarlett has now made 18 appearances in all competitions for Spurs, with 15 of those coming as a substitute.

The 20-year-old striker joined United in August, and made 22 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals.

Seven of his games came as starts in Sky Bet Championship, with a further 13 from the bench.

Scarlett though has struggled for regular game time since the arrival of Gary Rowett as U’s head coach, featuring in only three league games out of a possible six, and his opportunities set to be perhaps further limited by the signing of fellow centre forward Tom Bradshaw from Millwall.

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About the author

Liam is the sports reporter for the Oxford Mail, primarily focusing on Oxford United.

He joined in November 2019 as a news reporter, and has previously covered patches including West Oxfordshire, education and local politics.

Liam received a Masters in Journalism from UCLan and can be found on X through the handle @OxMailLiamRice

The 20-year-old striker is on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur, but with the January transfer window open, it means recalls are a possibility.

Scarlett has impressed with the U’s, scoring four goals in 19 Sky Bet Championship appearances, of which seven were starts.

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United head coach Rowett said: “I don’t think there’s any issue there. Of course you’re always at the mercy when there are recalls in there with clubs like that.

“If they think he maybe hasn’t started as many games as they’d like, or whatever reason that is, or if a different type of club comes in, then you’re in that position.

“As far as I’m concerned, that’s not something we’ve got to necessarily worry about at the moment.

“It’s quite tricky in January. Ed [Waldron, head of football operations] has that problem a little bit more than me.

“Sometimes you might have to recall a player when you perhaps don’t want to because they’re playing, but you’ve also got to think about us as well as a football club and try and find a balance.”

The Oxford United striker, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, played the first 56 minutes and was then replaced by Ipswich Town forward Liam Delap.

Scarlett opened the scoring after good work from Samuel Iling-Junior down the left-hand side saw the winger cross into the centre, where Scarlett produced an excellent diving header at the near post.

The 20-year-old had the chance to give England an even earlier lead, but his strike was blocked by a crowd of Netherlands players.

After opening the scoring though, England needed former U’s loanee James Beadle to keep their lead, and was tested when Ezechiel Banzui directed a header at goal, yet Beadle made the stop.

In the second half, Beadle made another save to deny Banzui, this time with a long-range strike.

With less than 10 minutes to go, the Netherlands grabbed an equaliser when substitute Thom van Bergen collected Stoke City winger Million Manhoef’s pass and fired past an onrushing Beadle.

England then called upon Beadle in the closing stages to make a handful of late stops.

For Scarlett though, his goal backed up the little over 20 minutes he got from the bench as England were held to a goalless draw away against Spain in their first match of the November international window.

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Idris El Mizouni played 85 minutes as he picked up his second cap for Tunisia.

Line-ups published online show El Mizouni as playing up front in a 4-1-2-1-2 set-up, however match replays indicate that El Mizouni was in a midfield role at home against Gambia.

Tunisia lost the game 1-0, with the only goal of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier coming when Abdoulie Ceesay found the net with a header after 17 minutes.

The defeat saw Tunisia slip to second in Group A, behind Comoros, but qualification had already been secured.

Paris-born El Mizouni’s only previous cap came back in June 2019, when he came on as a substitute during a 2-0 friendly win against Iraq.

Greg Leigh played half an hour from the bench as Jamaica lost a 4-2 thriller in the second leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against the United States.

The US led 1-0 from the first leg, and raced into a 4-0 aggregate lead by half-time in the second leg.

Goals were exchanged at either end by the time Leigh replaced Tayvon Gray, while Demarai Gray grabbed his second for Jamaica as the aggregate score finished 5-2 to the United States.

The Leicester City loanee has impressed since stepping into the starting XI for the goalless draw at home to Burnley last month.

Including the Clarets game, Nelson has started each of the last five matches for United.

At home against Derby County last night, the centre half’s ability to carry the ball into midfield and then search for a through pass for the U’s attackers was particularly eye-catching.

Naturally, such bravery in possession brings with it risk too, and there were a couple of occasions when ambitious passes didn’t quite reach their target.

For United though, the potential reward outweighs the risk.

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U’s first team assistant head coach Craig Short, a Premier League centre back with Everton and Blackburn Rovers, is enjoying what he’s seeing from Nelson.

Short said: “I’m encouraging him to do that, and I’ve spoken to him quite a bit about it. When you’ve got one centre forward pressing you, you can do that.

“He’s got exceptional pace as well. He glides across the ground and is probably one of the quickest players here.

“He’s got two good feet, and you wouldn’t think he was right-footed with some of the left-footed diagonals he was hitting.

“We’ll encourage him to do that, of course we will, and then you’ve always got someone who can fill in for him. I’m not going to stop him doing that.”

Against the Rams, Dane Scarlett was handed his first league start for United, and backed up his stoppage time leveller at the weekend with the opener last night.

Short said of the Tottenham Hotspur loanee: “He’s deserved his chance and he’s trained really well. Last year, we had to keep rolling out Mark [Harris] every week, and he did a great job, of course he did, but now we’ve got competition, and with three games in a week, it’s important to adjust the side.

“Dane has paid us back. He was never going to last more than sixty minutes, I don’t think, and he said he was feeling it a little bit, but when you’ve got Mark Harris to come on, you’ve always got a threat anyway, so it’s good having that squad.”

Short added: “We’ve watched him in training and he’s well thought of by Spurs. Some of the stuff he does in training, you wouldn’t want to play against him.

“It’s good having the competition. Last year, it was fortunate that Mark got through the whole season without getting any injuries.

“We want to save his legs sometimes, and especially with a big game this weekend away at Sunderland, with the travelling, it’s important we do rotate the squad.”

The Tottenham Hotspur loanee replaced Mark Harris with 64 minutes on the clock, and the score at 1-0 to the Baggies.

Two minutes into stoppage time, a long Will Vaulks throw-in was flicked on by Elliott Moore into the direction of Scarlett, who guided a header beyond Alex Palmer in the Albion goal.

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Scarlett said: “I’m happy and I’m buzzing for the boys to get the result in the end, and for me, it was good to get that chance.

“I just had to anticipate it in the last minutes of the game. As a striker, you need to be ready for those kinds of moments, and thankfully it fell to me.

“It was a dream and a really good feeling, and hopefully there’s more to come now.

“I just have to be patient. My chances will come, and today it came, and I took it, so we’ll see what happens.

“It’s a challenge, but I’m up for the challenge. I’m ready to take it now. I’ve had a few loans now, but now it’s time to push on.”

During the international break, Scarlett was promoted from England’s Elite League squad, formerly the Under-20s, to the Under-21s for Euro qualifiers against Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Scarlett was unused in a 2-1 win against Ukraine, but got a goal and an assist from the bench in a 7-0 romp over Azerbaijan.

The striker, who has previously captained the Elite League side, said of his impact against Azerbaijan: “That boosted my confidence. I needed that. Hopefully from now on, it’s positive.

“One of the best feelings in football is leading your nation out, I would say. That’s really good, and it helps when I come back to senior men’s football.

“I can be involved and let them know that I’m a leader too even though I’m young.

“I go and play football, and enjoy football. When I’m on the pitch, I’m the happiest I will be.”

The 20-year-old striker has made six Sky Bet Championship appearances for United, all from the bench, totalling 93 minutes.

He replaced Mark Harris after 64 minutes at home against West Bromwich Albion this afternoon, and popped up with a stoppage time leveller.

A long throw-in from Will Vaulks was flicked on by Elliott Moore to the path of Scarlett, who in turn headed beyond Alex Palmer to salvage a 1-1 draw for the U’s.

United head coach Buckingham said: “We’re happy that we’ve come up against a really good side in West Brom, a team that I’m sure will be challenging to go up and out of this league, and to be able to put on the second half performance that we did and come away with a result against a very good team, I’m very happy.

“We made some changes. You saw quite a few in the second half. Louie Sibley came on with Dane Scarlett, and you saw Owen [Dale] and Malcolm [Ebiowei] come on.

“We wanted to really get after them and get more attacking players on the pitch. It paid off, and Dane’s been very patient.

“He’s had probably fewer minutes than he’d have liked, but Mark Harris has been in extremely good form.

“What we’ve now got, including Will Goodwin, is three there, so if we know it’s not quite working with Sparky, then Dane is more than capable of going in to contribute.

“It’s about time one of those long throws came in. We don’t use them very often, so it’s nice to see.

“Pricey [Lewis Price, goalkeeping coach] will be claiming it as a set piece goal, and we chucked an extra body in the box because of the time, and Elliott did really well to flick it on, and I’m really delighted for Dane.”

Buckingham added: “We knew coming into this level of football that we’re probably going to come up against teams that are not better than us, but will pose different challenges.

“We just need to set our team up to be respectful of that, but not come too far away from allowing us to play the way we want.

“What I’m really happy now with is 10 games in, we’ve faced 10 very different tests, but we’ve been able to navigate our way through them to come out with results.

“It’s results at the end of the day which are going to keep us where we want to be, which is in this league.

“If we can keep performing to the levels we have, that’ll put us in the best spot.”

A Karlan Grant strike just before half an hour had been played gave West Bromwich Albion the lead shortly before the half-hour mark, and as the game looked to be getting away from United, substitute Scarlett salvaged a draw.

Two minutes into stoppage time, Scarlett met a long throw-in with a header which flew past Alex Palmer in the Baggies goal.

Des Buckingham made two changes to the side which drew 1-1 at Portsmouth prior to the international break, as Elliott Moore returned to the heart of the defence in place of Sam Long, while Siriki Dembele came in for Kyle Edwards.

Before kick-off, there was a minute’s silence for two-time former U’s loanee George Baldock, who recently passed away aged just 31. Both teams wore black armbands during the game.

United had the first sniff of goal with seven minutes on the clock, as Mark Harris beat the offside trap, however his first touch took him a tad wide towards the left, allowing Palmer to make a save at his near post.

Will Vaulks hung the resulting corner to the back post and the ball fell to Elliott Moore, who stabbed an effort into the gloves of Palmer.

At the other end, Darnell Furlong drove into space and sent a strike wide from outside the penalty area.

A near post header from Torjbjorn Heggem flew narrowly off target from a corner, while Harris lined up a shot from 25 yards, but he sent it high and wide.

Albion took the lead just before half an hour had been played when calls for a foul on Dembele were waved away by referee Leigh Doughty seconds before Grant drilled a low strike into Jamie Cumming’s bottom right corner from 25 yards.

Ciaron Brown then headed just over from an outswinging Vaulks corner, before Uros Racic sent an effort off target when a Baggies corner fell to him 20 yards out from goal.

The final bit of action of the half saw Grant run infield from the left-hand side, before driving a right-footed strike into the midriff of Cumming.

The second period began with a slack ball across the Baggies backline almost presenting an opportunity to Dembele, who couldn’t quite get the ball out his feet to get a shot away.

Six minutes into the second half, Buckingham was shown a yellow card after Doughty blew for a free kick when Albion skipper Kyle Bartley hit the turf following a soft nudge in the back from Harris.

Dembele then went agonisingly close when he made his way to the byline, before cutting back to send in a cross which narrowly evaded both posts and skimmed out of play for a goal kick.

A loose ball fell to Racic centrally just inside the box and he fired a low strike through the bodies and into the gloves of Cumming.

Buckingham made a double switch with 64 minutes played, as Louie Sibley and Scarlett replaced Ruben Rodrigues and Harris respectively, and 10 minutes later, Malcolm Ebiowei came on for Dembele.

That change saw Crystal Palace loanee Ebiowei go to the right wing, with Tyler Goodrham moving over to the left.

The sting had been well and truly taken out of the fixture, and with seven minutes to go, Buckingham again looked to his bench to freshen things up.

This time, he sent on Owen Dale for Idris El Mizouni, as Dale lined up on the left, allowing Goodrham to drop back into midfield.

Five minutes of stoppage time were signalled, and two minutes into them, Scarlett headed United level.

A long throw from Vaulks was hurled into the penalty box, and Tottenham Hotspur loanee Scarlett rose well to head home after Moore had initially flicked the ball on.

Oxford United (4-3-3): Cumming; Kioso, Moore, Nelson, Brown; Rodrigues (Sibley 64), Vaulks, El Mizouni (Dale 83); Goodrham, Harris (Scarlett 64), Dembele (Ebiowei 74).

Unused subs: Ingram, Long, ter Avest, Leigh, Goodwin.

Booked: Nelson, Sibley.

West Bromwich Albion (4-2-3-1): Palmer; Furlong, Ajayi, Bartley, Heggem; Racic (Molumby 83), Mowatt; Fellows (Wallace 70), Diangana (Swift 70), Grant; Maja (Johnston 83).

Unused subs: Wildsmith, Styles, Diakite, Dobbin, McNair.

Booked: Mowatt.

Referee: Leigh Doughty (Lancashire)

Attendance: 11,453 (TBC visitors)