Jack Stretton.

Cooly slotting the ball into the net just to the left side, Jack Stretton wheels away in celebration with a huge grin plastered on his face after scoring what turned out to be the winning goal - acknowledging that every single goal could become crucial come end of the season. Team mates crowd him quickly and congratulate him, displaying just how influential he is to the team dynamic and how well he gets on with everybody.

Having a very impressive goal return of 8 goals in 8 appearances in this season, his first season with the u23s, Stretton has started the season brightly and has worked tirelessly to keep his name on the starting line up of the u23s and keeping well recognised Bobby Duncan out of the XI; averaging a goal every 75 minutes. According to statistics, since 2019, no other top level forward (Premier League 2 etc) has been involved in more goals - with 30 appearances, Stretton has scored 24 goals and assisted four times. He is also the top scorer at the moment in the Premier League 2, Derby are top of the league with a 4 point advantage - although 2nd and 3rd placed Chelsea and Liverpool have two games in hand - and with Stretton's goals rapidly becoming intertwined with the academy's success, he will not just break the barrier to hop into the first team; he will smash it down and storm his way into the first team line up sooner or later.

Thinking back to that little European adventure we had with our u19 squad, Jack Stretton was a crucial aspect of that team advancing so far, contributing with 5 goal involvement in 6 games (4 goals and 1 assist). I did go to Austria for a little overnight holiday - I spent £200+ on this trip I am going to mention it every opportunity I get - and going along to the u19s game against RB Salzburg in March 2020. Needless to say, I was impressed. He didn't score nor assist in this fixture but he was tireless in his work rate, he was chasing down every single through ball, shadowing all the other attackers' (Tyree Wilson's specifically) runs to provide support and a second option in case they were closed down sooner than expected, he was also constantly putting himself in dangerous positions to be that lethal strike, to pounce onto any rebound balls.

If I had to sum him up in one word...

Insatiable.

He just cannot get enough, he runs like he's got a third lung, he is constantly threatening, hungry and sniffing out his next goal like a lone wolf seeking for his next meal; this is how he thrives. It's as if goals are what keeps him alive, not oxygen.

His international career has begun to take off too, earning two caps with the Scotland u19 squad during last season and with his ambitions firmly set on making the step up into the next age category. He is pushing to break into Derby's first team squad sooner or later, even training with them quite a few times of late as mentioned by coach Liam Rosenior.

Although still young, he turned 19 just shy of two months ago, he carries himself very well. Judging by how often he interacts with older players as well as how strong his influence is on the squad, he is intelligent and recognises what is at stake, and understands just how important behaviour off the pitch can be and the effects of it on his own career. Bumping into the squad at the airport in Salzburg, I was with a friend who adores him and was understandably nervous, but Stretton took the time to talk to him even although you could see just how disappointed he was with the result from just the night before. He took his time, made sure both she and myself were happy and enjoyed the trip, interacted with his coaches regularly - it was impressive to see someone of his age be so confident and mature in talking with both people he knew and strangers.

Maybe talking about his maturity isn't what you're here to read about but there is not too many statistics out there for me to really talk about them in depth but 8 goals in 8 games speaks for itself. But because I'm feeling generous, let's take a quick look at how he positions himself to be the most dangerous player possible.

-Sorry about the photos not being the best possible quality, but the circles will help. I think; red circle is the ball and white circle is the star of the show.

This is against the game before the last, a 3-2 win over West Ham. Here, you can see the ball is being played down the right by Kornell McDonald, and Stretton is already moving about in the box, trying to lose his man.

Surprise, surprise, it results in a goal from Stretton, his first goal of the game. The ball is flicked to keep it in play as the players collapse in a heap, and Stretton is there to just push it home, nestled in the back of the goal where it should belong.

Jordan Brown, another youngster that has unfairly gone under the radar, skilfully spots potential for a goal and whips in a beautiful cross, and Stretton recognises this too. Just to quickly mention, to recognise this sort of goal potential takes a lot of maturity and a lot of experience so for two 19 year olds to acknowledge this, it is beyond incredible. Kudos.

Stretton continues to follow the ball and successfully loses his man, and takes his chances at goal. Unfortunately, this doesn't result in a goal as the goalkeeper comfortably plucks the ball out of the air but this deserved a mention just for the cross from Brown and the run from Stretton.

This is from our 2-1 win over Leicester City and I wish oh so much that we had a better angle but you can see Archie Brown here, another promising youngster, not even have the need to lift his head to see where to cross. He just knows Stretton will be there.

If you don't believe me, you can have a little glance at the highlights.

Boom, Stretton was there and he bagged his second goal of the season.

Again, Stretton reads the game very well and has already begun his run to the box so he could be ready in case the team needed him or if the ball was played to him with the expectation of a goal. He continues the run into the huge pocket of space (the rectangle).

Unfortunately, a foul was committed so nothing resulted from this but notice how quickly Stretton has moved himself into a much better position to take advantage if the ball was kept after the tackle.

Like I mentioned before, Stretton will shadow other attackers' run, just to be present in the box in case the ball is still in play after a shot, maybe after deflecting off the goalkeeper or the goalpost. This creates an increased threat without the expense of having too many players up front because he is supposed to be there obviously, it piles on the pressure and forces errors.

Ultimately, he is not the one with the final touch, but you can notice how the only centre back there is under extra pressure, and out of shot is another defender desperately clawing back ground on Stretton - just that bit of pressure can mean the game goes in a different direction.

From this shot (time stamp: 1:26 if you want to fact check me) in our 2-1 win over Liverpool, Stretton drops deep to get stuck in and eventually wins the ball and just nudges it into the path of Tyree Wilson, another academy player who has been in and about the first team in training, then he himself goes onto a run too.

(Time stamp - 1:31) He eventually reaches the box after tracking the ball, and the ball is slipped through to Josh Shonibare, yet another highly rated prospect, by Wilson and although Shonibare does score from this position just 7 seconds after the initial pass from Stretton, Stretton recognises he cannot be the fox in the box in this situation considering how cramped the box is so he distances himself a bit but is still involved and will still seek opportunities if Shonibare got shut down. However, Wilson's attacking run in this should be praised.

Already an excellent fox in the box type and a team player, Stretton will go far, and his prospects will surely improve over the next few years as he develops and evolves his game to suit multiple different situations. His intelligence is clear to see too as well as his reading and understanding of the game is present - that will always be the foundation for any player to make it in modern football.

With this desire, attitude and brains, the talent to go with it as well as the goal record, nobody would be surprised to see him be the next youngster to make the step up into the first team squad.