An interesting Derbyshire Times article this afternoon has unearthed the reason why the cream of Fulham’s academy talent have been heading to Chesterfield to get a taste of senior football in the last year or so.

Former England international Kieron Dyer appears to have made the most of one relationship he forged at Upton Park. The Spireites first-team coach crossed paths with Hayden Mullins during their time together in the West Ham United midfield and Mullins, about to start his second full season in charge of Fulham’s under-21s, sees the SMH Group Stadium as a good landing spot for those members of Fulham’s PL2 set-up who would benefit from senior minutes.

Chesterfield had defenders Harvey Araujo and Devan Tanton amongst their ranks last year and snapped up last season’s Fulham under-21s skipper Matt Dibley-Dias on a season-long loan earlier this month. The reluctance of Fulham’s hierarchy to loan out some of the club’s brightest talents has infuriated the fans who feel that plenty of promising players have stagnated in the PL2, so the personal intervention of those two former Hammers’ midfielders should be applauded.