Stoke City boss Alex Neil sends midfielder on rescue mission to pull old club out of relegation mire

dailyrecord.co.uk:

New Hamilton signing Tom Sparrow revealed Accies legend Alex Neil sent him north on a rescue mission to get them out of the relegation mire.And the 19-year-old hopes if he can help them pull off a great escape, it just might land him a new deal at Stoke City.Stoke gaffer Neil has done his old side a favour by loaning out the youngster, who can play in defence or midfield, on a deal until the end of the season, as Accies aim to claw their way off the bottom of the Championship table.And while it is a big season for the New Douglas Park outfit, it could also prove to be a pivotal one at The Potters for Sparrow with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.Sparrow, who made his debut in yesterday's 1-0 defeat to Ayr, said: "Alex told me all about where I was going and that Hamilton is a really good club, offering me a really good opportunity."Him and Canzo [Stoke assistant and ex-Accie Martin Canning] are obviously both former managers here so they just said to me I'm going up to their neck of the woods to try and help Hamilton get off the bottom of the table."He said it's a good club, with good people and they shouldn't be where they are, so hopefully I can help them."I think the standard is a lot higher than I expected, without being disrespectful, and it was a good level, like Alex said it would be."I felt this was a good test for me and it should be for the next four months."The biggest thing for me is to get games here.

I need to start playing senior football and hopefully my time here can help me to progress and kick on in the summer."I've played one game in the Championship for Stoke, one in the cup and came on as a sub twice."My contract with Stoke is up in the summer, but they've got an option to extend