Opinion: Blues have a decision to make when it comes to the short-term future of young prospect

So, now that he’s got that first taste of football under his belt, what should come next for the young man?

That’s the question facing Blues when it comes to young Zach Jeacock. Having put in a fantastic display by all accounts against Brentford on Saturday, the likelihood is that eventually he will fall back down the order pretty quickly, as Neil Etheridge gets bedded into the team and Andres Prieto recovers from his injury.

I touched on the matter somewhat yesterday when I spoke about the defenders he has in front of him, and how important they are going to be if he happens to play for Blues again, either in the near future or further down the line this season. However, what should he be doing in the meantime?

Should we consider sending him out on loan in order to continue his development? It’s not impossible that we’ll be needing him at some point this season, if either Prieto or Etheridge gets injured or suspended then we’re going to need him to back them up and even then he might still get the odd game here and there.

However, at the same time he’s not going to get better simply by sitting on the bench (or maybe not even that) for the vast majority of the games between now and the end of the season, so could he be better off by playing elsewhere and getting regular football? I’m not quite sure his ‘level’ is at this stage of his career, but I’m sure the club will make the right call to make she he isn’t totally a fish out of water.

Now just for the record, I don’t fall on one side or the other in this matter, I can see arguments for both sides. What about you? What do you think needs to happen to Jeacock?