Blackburn Rovers and Chesterfield have both struck gold with 2024 agreement | OneFootball

Blackburn's Dilan Markanday was in need of regular first team football this summer, and a loan move to Chesterfield is already paying dividends.

Dilan Markanday’s impressive form has continued in recent matches, scoring Chesterfield's opener against Newport last Friday after just 42 seconds and the attacking midfielder put in another positive display against Colchester United, where Town extended their unbeaten run to seven games.

But despite a good performance against the U's, it was at Rodney Parade where Markanday ran the show.

Almost straight from kick-off, Max Thompson lumped the ball up-field and the ball was flicked on by Paddy Madden, but a mix-up between goalkeeper Nick Townsend and Kyle Jameson allowed Markanday to pounce and tap the ball into an empty net.

The 23-year-old joined Chesterfield on loan from Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers in August and, with four goals and two assists in 11 games, the attacker has become a mainstay in Paul Cook’s team, who have lost just once in their last 11 games in all competitions.

Markanday made 21 Championship appearances last season, 14 as a substitute, but scored just once, so Blackburn will be delighted that Markanday has been able to add an end product to his silky-smooth game.

Markanday is starting to show his class in Derbyshire

A constant threat across the front-line, Markanday made five key passes against Colchester, with the 23-year-old the key to Chesterfield unlocking the U’s defenses, as Paul Cook’s men managed 24 shots on goal in the 1-1 draw.

Cook's newest attacker was voted the fan’s Man of the Match in the Spireites’ convincing 3-0 win at Newport, and he assisted Paddy Madden for the opener against Notts County with a trademark cut inside and inch-perfect ball into the path of the Irishman, who found the back of the net.

Having scored just three senior goals in his career before his move to Derbyshire, Markanday has added a killing instinct under Cook, getting in good positions between the posts, where he has been able to score important goals against Grimsby, Cheltenham and Walsall.

Only 10 players have scored more League Two goals than Markanday’s four, with the red-hot front-line of Berry, Markanday and Grigg netting 16 of Chesterfield’s 23 goals in League Two.

Also, a keen creator, the Blackburn loanee has two assists to his name this season, setting up Madden as well as Tom Naylor from a corner against Crewe on his debut, as he made an instant impact.

While Cook has tended to chop and change his starting 11, whether it be on the right wing or as a central attacking midfielder, the Liverpudlian always seems to make space for Markanday, who is getting regular exposure to first-team football for the first time, with all 11 of his League appearances being starts for Chesterfield.

Markanday’s stop-start career looks to have finally taken off

The London-born winger joined Tottenham’s academy aged 15 in 2017 and quickly established himself as one of the stars of Spurs’ youth-teams, netting 17 goals while getting six assists in 36 matches in the Under 18 Premier League.

Markanday made his one and only appearance for the Lilywhites’ first team in the 2021/22 Conference League under Nuno Espírito Santo, appearing alongside Dele Alli in a 1-0 away defeat to Vitesse, but it was in the Premier League 2 where the winger caught the attention of former Premier League champions Blackburn.

The former Rovers man scored 12 goals and provided five assists in Premier League 2, which led to his sale to Blackburn, but he failed to replicate his youth-team form in the North West, being limited to EFL Cup and substitute appearances in the first few seasons.

Following an unsuccessful loan to Aberdeen, where he played just 50 minutes of football, Markanday was a useful squad player under both Jon Dahl Tomasson and John Eustace last campaign, becoming a regular in the League Cup, as he scored in an 8-0 rout of Harrogate, as well as in a 5-2 win over Cardiff.

Turning 23 this summer and yet to nail down a spot in Eustace’s first-team, Markanday was in desperate need of regular first-team football and in Cook’s Chesterfield, he is in the perfect place to learn under an experienced manager, and a reportedly good dressing room.

Town’s style of play perfectly compliments Markanday’s skill-set, with Cook getting the best out of tricky, diminutive attackers like Armando Dobra and Ryan Colclough.

With his quick-feet and silky first-touch, Markanday often drifts inside and creates chances in tight spaces around the edge of the box, as Cook’s possession-based style allows Markanday to see a lot of the ball, and he has often been the one to make things happen in and around the penalty area.

At 23 and with just 39 first-team appearances to his name prior to his loan to the Spireites, Markanday was in need of regular football, and if his impressive form continues, game time will be easy to come by for the former Spurs man.

Cook has utilised the loan market brilliantly this season, with Jenson Metcalfe, Harvey Araujo, Max Thompson and Markanday all starting the previous four matches, but with four goals and counting, it’s the Blackburn man who has had the biggest impact in Derbyshire.

That's a huge plus for Chesterfield in the here-and-now, and obviously his parent-club, Blackburn, in the mid-to-long-term.

If this somewhat stop-start career is about to take off, it's what Blackburn have craved since bringing him on board. The evidence at Chesterfield suggests that's the case, and it's fair to say that everyone looks like a winner from last summer's deal.