This summer, Adam May headed out on loan to Swindon Town from boyhood club Portsmouth following successful loan spells away in seasons that had preceded 2019-2020.

May would have been full of optimism and hope for his first loan spell in the Football League having made 30 appearances for Pompey since making his debut in the 2014-2015 season, however, the central midfielder's loan hasn't worked out the way that anybody would have expected.

Instead, the 21-year-old has struggled for game-time and appeared just 11 times over a three-month period as Swindon boss Richie Wellens has failed to give the youngster a chance during his time with the Robins so far.

May has only made four starts at The County Ground for Swindon with three of those being starts in the cup, and the central midfielder will now be cutting a frustrated figure out on loan as that hope and optimism he had when originally going out on loan could have seeped out of the former Aldershot Town loanee.

The 21-year-old has been left out of the last four matchday squads for Swindon and has been forced to watch from the stands as his team-mates have been doing the business on the pitch, lifting the club up to fifth in the League Two table.

Still at a young age and hoping that this loan would have been the beginning of a long Football League career with regular appearances, May will be wondering just what he's done wrong for the team, as this loan appears to have not worked out for the youngster.

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With a recall clause in the loan deal that could see the youngster return to Fratton Park in January, May will have to fight for his spot in the Swindon team otherwise he runs the risk of Kenny Jackett bringing the midfielder back to the south coast earlier than expected.

The loan deal is doing May no good currently while he is watching from the stands or from the bench every week, and being recalled in January may not be the worst thing for the 21-year-old.

It would mean that he can then seek a more promising loan move, a move that could get his career back on track after a possibly wasted six months, and May can then prove to Portsmouth that he's worth keeping around as the youngster develops his overall game by playing senior football instead of sat on a bench or watching on from the stands.

For Portsmouth, they will definitely be assessing where May's next loan move could already be.