Burton Albion v Scarborough Athletic: Sheffield Wednesday loanee Mackenzie Maltby on finding an ideal learning ground

The 19-year-old centre-back has been loaned to Scarborough Athletic to learn the skills he will need at parent club Sheffield Wednesday, and one is about meeting the expectations of a passionate fanbase.

Conference North is a world away from a packed Hillsborough, but in that pond, the fan-run phoenix club are big fishes. Whereas Farsley Celtic’s average league gate is 115 this season, Scarborough’s is 1,624. Over 1,000 away fans will be at the Pirelli Stadium, all asked to wear red.

But Maltby will feel like he knows them all. It is that kind of club.

“It feels like a big community, it's almost like everyone knows everyone,” he says. “Everyone speaks to everyone like they know them and it really helps when it comes to playing the games because you feel like everyone’s on your side.

“Loads of people say it but I’m deadly serious, I wouldn’t have a bad word to say about any of them – players, staff, fans, everyone.

“A few clubs in the league have similar fanbases but the Scarborough fans have been class. Wednesday bring massive crowds everywhere so it's a good place to learn.”

It also brings a pressure to not let those supporters down. “Playing in front of crowds is a massive part of football most people don’t take into consideration," argues Maltby, on loan until January.

“In the development side, they want you to win and you want to win but it’s not like you have to, really. Here you need points on the board, we want to get into the play-offs, get promoted and have cup runs.

“When you speak to the fans before and after the game, you realise how much it means to them to win each game. You want to go and do it for them and for yourself, really.”

Scarborough’s chairman, Trevor Bull, calls Maltby “a class act, reminiscent of Craig Short”, the former Everton, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United man who is arguably the best defender the original club produced. But he was worried how a ball-playing centre-back would adapt to sixth-tier football.

“His first start was away at Alfreton Town, whose gameplan is always to intimidate centre-halves by pumping long balls and throw-ins into the box,” he recalls. “I was a little bit worried with it being his first start as a young lad but it was a man-of-the-match performance and he scored the winning goal.”

Maltby admits: “It’s a different way of playing, the time on the ball’s different. But as much as I can, I’ll try to play how I play. I like to try and keep possession of the ball, it’s what I try and do – and keep it our of my net!

“Lads five, six years older than you who might see you as a young target. I enjoy that, it’s more of a challenge.”

There were other challenges too. “I’d only ever been in one [home] changing room, I’d never played in a different kit,” he says. “I think I needed it, it was about time.

“Everyone’s got a different path but it's helped me out a lot. Some lads need it, some lads don’t.”

Burton will be a challenge too – three divisions above but potentially vulnerable by dint of being managerless, bottom of League One and on an eight-match losing streak.

“All the lads are going into it not as if it's a normal game but one we can win,” says Maltby. “It's not a mismatch, we can definitely get a result.

“[Manager Jonathan Greening]’s tried to make it normal but express to the lads that it’s a big game for the club that we'd like to win.

“Maybe the past couple of weeks we didn’t get the points we wanted but three points last Saturday [at Marine] were needed and we can just push on now. We've definitely got the squad. Play-offs are the aim.”

Maltby spent Tuesday watching youth team-mates Pierce Charles, Sean Fusire and Gabriel Gabriel Otegbayo in a televised League Cup last-16 tie at Premier League Brentford, which the Bees won on penalties.

He refuses to get sidetracked from today, but it could be him next.

“We saw on Tuesday our three young boys are doing well,” says Wednesday manager Danny Rohl. “They need this experience, it’s not just about training, it's about playing games and making decisions.

“For Macca at his age, game-time’s the most important point and he’s doing well."

Maltby says: "I've been there that long everyone knows I'm here. They just check in, come and watch a couple of games and report back.

"They're happy with me so far, they've given me a few little things here and there but for the most part they try and leave me to it."

Scarborough hope the arrangement has long-term benefits for them too, especially with Neil Thompson, one of the original club’s playing greats and a former manager, on Rohl’s coaching staff.

"We'd like to think Neil Thompson has got a soft spot for us!" chuckles Bull. "What we and in particular Jono Greening has to do is prove to these Championship and League One clubs that we'll look after the players, they'll get the chance and we'll grow them as individuals.

"We can't afford big-budget players but we have got money set aside for loan signings."

It feels like a win-win situation, and that will be the only word on Maltby’s mind in Burton.