Jeremy Helan signed off from his loan spell with Sheffield Wednesday in celebratory style as his side avoided relegation from the Championship with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough.
The French utility man has been an influential member of the Owls squad as they battled to avoid the drop in recent months.
Liked the look of Jeremy Helan. Has a few tricks and plenty of pace. Hopefully he’ll get a few games in pre season #mcfc
— Thomas Mason (@McfcMason) May 4, 2013
Meanwhile, Wayne Bridge will hope to be a part of the play-offs in the same division. He was absent for Brighton on Saturday as they beat Wolves to confirm the Molineux outfit’s relegation.
A vital part of the Seagulls’ defence, Wayne was rested due to a hamstring niggle as every effort is made to ensure he is fit to take part in the clashes with arch rivals Crystal Palace for a final spot at Wembley.
The first leg in a tasty encounter kicks off on Friday night with the second leg on Monday. We’ll have a full update in next week’s loan watch.
Alex Nimely has returned to City from Crystal Palace due to injury.
Karim Rekik has endured a frustrating loan spell with Blackburn Rovers, making just five appearances for the Ewood Park outfit.
The Dutch defender was plunged into turmoil when manager Michael Appleton, who brought him to Rovers, was sacked in mid-March.
Rekik did not start for Blackburn after 2 March, and has since featured seven times as an unused substitute, including in Saturday’s draw with Birmingham.
He will be aiming to put a challenging period behind him next season.
Elsewhere, there was play-off heartbreak for Adam Drury’s side, Burton Albion. The League Two side won the first leg, but opponents Bradford came back in the second leg with a 3-1 win to secure the aggregate victory.
Drury was on the bench for both matches, coming on in the last minute of normal time in the first leg.
North of the border, Hibernian’s match with Kilmarnock was called off after a fan collapsed and later died in hospital. The referee halted the game after 51 minutes as the supporter was administered CPR in front of a home stand and the match was later abandoned.
Ryan McGivern had started the game for Hibs and set up his team’s opening goal, although the home side later equalised, but now faces a race against time to be fit for the Edinburgh derby this weekend.
The Northern Ireland defender carried on playing after injuring his leg early on but had to come off shortly before Kilmarnock’s goal.
His manager, Pat Fenlon, told the Scotsman: “We will look at him again today but it’s a bit early to say. There’s a bit of swelling but we do not think he has done any major damage.
“Hopefully he will be okay but we’ll assess him over the next couple of days and see where he is. We won’t, though, be taking any risks.”
On the continent, Omar Elabdellaoui came off the bench for Eintracht Braunschweig as they fought out a goalless draw with Energie Cottbus. The Norwegian has been a regular starter for the German side who earned promotion to the Bundesliga last week.
In Spain, Roque Santa Cruz was called off the bench in the 58th minute for Malaga but was unable to prevent a 1-0 loss to Granada.
Luca Scapuzzi came on in 79th minute for Varese as part of the Serie B side’s 2-2 draw away to Grosseto.
Abdi Ibrahim was uninvolved as Stromsgodset pulled off a 3-1 win over Viking, while Mohammed Abu is still recovering from injury and therefore played no part in Lorient’s 1-0 defeat to Sochaux in Ligue 1.
