Nottingham Forest have confirmed that full-back Aaron Donnelly has joined Port Vale on loan until the end of the season.
Reports emerged on Monday of the teenager’s temporary exit from the City Ground, with the defender looking to build up his experience of first team football. He made his first team debut in the Carabao Cup tie against Grimsby Town earlier this season.
It’s not the first time that Forest have sent players to the League One side with Jake Taylor, Will Swan, Tyler Walker, Dimitar Evtimov and Adam Crookes all spending time with the club in recent seasons. Donnelly signed a new deal at the City Ground back in December having regularly featured for the U23 team.
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Following the announcement of the loan deal, Vale manager Darrell Clarke outlined why the club made a move for the 19-year-old.
“Aaron ticks a lot of our boxes in terms of his attitude, character and ability and comes with a good reference having worked with Cros [Andy Crosby] at Northern Ireland previously,” he told the club’s official website.
“Having lost Connor Hall earlier this month, Aaron comes in and gives us good competition on the left side of defence.”
Donnelly will wear the number five shirt at Vale Park and could make his debut in the League One clash against Cheltenham on Saturday.
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