THE international break provided Jamie Shackleton with a rare chance to return to normality.
After all, living more than 200 miles away from where he was born and raised is certainly not normal. He has spent his entire life in Leeds, but this season was about pushing out of his comfort zone in order to develop as a footballer.
The 23-year-old relished the opportunity to see his friends and family again, and while adapting to life in London was a scary prospect at the start, he has fully acclimatised to his new life in the capital.
“If we get a couple of days off, more often than not, I’ll get myself back up there and go and see everybody that I need to see,” Shackleton said.
“Coming down, I was a bit nervous. It was my first time away from living in Yorkshire, but I realised pretty quickly that I was going to enjoy it here.
“I think I’ve settled into being here and living around here quite a lot.”
There is no denying that his start to life at The Den was tricky. A regular in the opening weeks, Shackleton dropped out of the team when Gary Rowett switched from a back five to a 4-2-3-1. He was regularly limited to short cameo appearances, but the manager continued to promise that he would get his chance in the team.
It was particularly hard due to the consistent performances of George Saville and Billy Mitchell, who were the first-choice midfield duo for much of the season. However, when the latter picked up an injury, Shackleton was given his opportunity, which he took with open arms.
“As a player, the main thing that you want to do is play football and play as much football as possible,” Shackleton said.
“That’s in games especially, that’s the main thing. That’s the part that everybody sees.
“I had to stay patient and wait for opportunities and take them when they come.
“Billy has been key to a large part of where we are this season. Whilst he’s been injured, it’s important that we don’t stop playing the way that we want to play and that we continue that momentum that we built up beforehand.
“I think we’ve done that over the last couple of months. We’ve been able to keep ourselves or even put ourselves in a better position than we were going into the last couple of months.”
These are all the things that a young player will experience on a first loan, although Shackleton’s case is unusual given the fact that his first spell away from his parent club has come relatively later in his career after he made his Leeds debut in August 2018.
As a result, there was some anxiety ahead of his move to The Den, but it has been valuable for his development as a player and a person.
“I was a bit nervous about it all and I didn’t really know what to expect,” Shackleton said.
“Within the first couple of weeks, I realised that it was a great place. That’s sort of what I expected, otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen to come down here.
“It met my expectations and more. It’s a great club. The lads are great and the fans are very passionate.”
Image: Millwall FC