Johnny Phillips: Hometown boy Nathan Fraser’s chance to stake a Wolves claim
It was great to see Tettenhall youngster Nathan Fraser make such an impact on his senior debut this week.
The Republic of Ireland youth international made a fantastic contribution when he replaced Sasa Kalajdzic in the second half at Molineux on Tuesday evening during Wolves’ rout of Blackpool.
Fraser showed some sharp footwork and awareness to set up the returning Matt Doherty for his second goal of the evening and then scored one of his own, albeit via a deflection. Fraser has been looking sharp for the under-21s recently, with a spectacular volley away at Middlesbrough catching the eye.
“There’s been a lot of constant, hard work,” he told Wolves’ in-house television channel after the match.
“There’s been ups and downs but I’ve knuckled down since I got my scholarship. I’ve worked hard throughout these two years and it feels like it was all towards a moment like this.
“Hopefully I can get a few more opportunities. At the start of the season you never know where you’re going to end up. You’re either going to get the opportunity to be on the bench or go on loan, but my aim has been to play for Wolves and that’s what I want to do.”
With more players coming into the first-team fold just before the transfer window shut this week, it is hard to forecast what opportunities lie ahead for Fraser, but if he continues to make this sort of impact then he may well remain around the first-team set-up this season.
n What a Champions League draw it turned out to be for Newcastle and their supporters, who will surely travel across Europe in their thousands. The Magpies will face Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan – none of whom they have ever met before competitively – as they return to Europe’s elite club competition after an absence of 20 years.
PSG are the current champions of France, while Dortmund, who were runners-up in Germany’s Bundesliga last season, won the Champions League in 1997. AC Milan were semi-finalists last season and have won the trophy seven times, second only to Real Madrid.
It is certainly the Group of Death if you are looking at it purely from the perspective of the football, but Newcastle fans will relish the calibre of opposition and the fine cities they can look forward to visiting.
