The Saints youngster was recalled from Burton in January and sent to MK, a move which caused controversy among some fans.
Southampton forward Jake Hesketh is currently on his second loan spell of the season and his latest match for MK Dons saw him net a second high-calibre goal in four appearances to add to his strike against Swindon Town.
The League Two outfit made the lengthy trip to Carlisle United last Saturday and the 22-year-old scored the goal which put his loan side 2-1 up in what ended as a 3-2 win for Paul Tisdale’s side (official Southampton website).
Conor McGrandles had fired MK ahead on 11 minutes and Steven Scougall scored a penalty just before the half-hour mark, but with no further goals until midway through the second half, Hesketh curled a stunning effort past the Cumbrians keeper and into the far corner of the net from just inside the box.
In the first half of the season, Hesketh enjoyed a fruitful spell at League One club Burton Albion, scoring three goals in 23 appearances (Transfermarkt) including the winner in the Carabao Cup quarter-final triumph over Middlesbrough.
His recall by Southampton and subsequent move to a team a division below his previous loan club proved controversial amongst some fans of both his parent club and those of Burton, who felt he would have developed more where he was.
“I’d have thought that, having had such a good first half of the season in League One, Southampton would’ve wanted him to at least stay at this level,” Albion boss Nigel Clough told the Derby Telegraph. “We just thought the benefit that Southampton and Jake were getting from him being with us wasn’t worth a little bit of finances that Southampton were asking for.”
Stockport-born Hesketh has been a Saints player for 13 years now but he has managed just four first-team appearances in that time (Transfermarkt).
