Have we finally hit on the reason why Fulham played Plymouth in a secret friendly last week?

David Stockdale played the second half of a comfortable romp for a side consisting of some experienced heads and fringe players. The young Fulham goalkeeper, so impressive in early season games against Everton and in CSKA Sofia, has signed for the Pilgrims on an initial month’s loan.

Personally, I think this is a good move for ‘Stockers’. It’s a higher level of football than he’s had on loan before and is recognition of his development over the last year or so. First team football beats playing in the stiffs and this will hopefully give him the chance to take some more steps towards eventually replacing Mark Schwarzer, which won’t be an easy task.