What will Jake Young add to the Swindon Town squad?

Swindon Town have bolstered their forward line through the addition of versatile attacker Jake Young on loan from Bradford City, so what is Michael Flynn looking to get out of his new forward? Total Sport’s Joe Acklam takes a look at what the new signing offers.

The first thing to clarify about Young is that despite being 6”1 he is not going to be the target man that many Town fans were expecting Flynn to be looking to get in. Despite his stature, the 22-year-old has divided his time between playing up front and on the left wing.

His main attribute is actually his ability with the ball at his feet, talking to the BBC, Young said of himself, “I am quick, sometimes deceivingly quick and I like to have the ball at my feet and be direct.”

His 1.96 successful dribbles per 90 last season saw him rank seventh amongst forwards in League Two and anyone who saw his brace against Sheffield Wednesday in the EFL Trophy will have seen that he is rather fleet of foot.

Matthew O’Hara, who covers Barrow AFC for NWE Mail, said of Young: “Jake Young is a classic wide forward. He likes to face people up and has got good pace to get down the sides of players.”

The main attraction to Young for Flynn will probably be what he can offer when out of possession as the signings who have come in so far and the set-ups during pre-season indicate that his priority was bringing in athletic players who will be able to cope with putting in a big shift to win the ball back.

Pete Wild's appointment last summer brough about a huge overperformance from Barrow last season and a lot of this was down to their high energy style and Young’s ability to contribute to this was the reason he was brought to Cumbria last January.

Young’s ability to be a tempo setter off the ball seems to be what attracted both Flynn and Wild, “In a Swindon system where off-the-ball work is mandatory Young could thrive,” O’Hara said, “This system closely resembles Barrow's as in Pete Wild's first season at the club he focused on bringing in players who could work hard on the pitch and help set the pace of his Bluebirds team.”

Despite largely being limited to cameo appearances at Barrow and Bradford last season he was able to record a commendable 4.3 ground duels won per 90 last season, putting him in the top 20% among all forwards in the division, a number which will come in handy with Flynn’s man marking system.

Young failed to score in his six months in Cumbria, but Flynn does not believe this to be indicative of him as a player, “He is a very good finisher, he scored an unbelievable goal against me last season for Bradford” and O’Hara concurred his lack of goals at Barrow may not have been solely his fault.

He said: “As a whole Barrow struggled last season to find a consistent source of goals outside of striker Josh Gordon and Young only made a handful of substitute appearances for the Bluebirds.”

Whilst Young is unlikely to be a regular in the starting 11 at Swindon, he does provide greater flexibility up front as his speed allows him to play alongside Charlie Austin, but also provide more of a physical presence which would be missing in his absence, and he could even be used as a winger if Flynn wants to shift his formation.

A striker with his goal record will never really set pulses racing, but Young seems to be a valuable squad option that has some upside through a technical skill which has not yet been displayed on a regular enough basis.