Reece Devine plays first match on loan at St Johnstone

Manchester United youngster Reece Devine kicked off his loan spell at St Johnstone this week.

Devine is the only United youngster actually out on loan right now. Tahith Chong and Nathan Bishop are still training at Carrington to make up the numbers before senior stars get back, before joining their new teams.

19-year-old full-back Devine featured as a substitute for the final 30 minutes in St Johnstone’s pre-season match with Preston North End, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

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A post shared by Reece Devine (@_reecedevine)

Devine’s brief appearance earned positive feedback on social media from St Johnstone fans. While it was just a pre-season friendly, first impressions can count for a lot and early signs look good.

How good was Reece Devine 👏🏼
— St. Johnstone FC News ⭐️⭐️ (@sjfcnews) July 13, 2021

Also, the young lads that came on didn’t look out of place, particularly impressed with Cammy Ballantyne and Reece Devine – thought they were excellent.
— St Johnstone Fans (@StJohnstoneFans) July 13, 2021

Absolutely loved being back at McDiarmid tonight! Been a long time coming. Have to say the team looked impressive for being so early on in the season. Wee Reece Devine will back at Man Utd in no time going by that performance 👀
— George Lauder (@GL_1884) July 13, 2021

Devine could feature tomorrow night when St Johnstone host Aberdeen in another friendly match. They then have two further friendly matches on July 21 and 24.

The Scottish Premiership season begins on July 31 so they are pushing ahead to prepare for kick-off. Devine will be looking to earn a starting spot.

The big attraction for the move is possible Europa League football after St Johnstone finished fifth last season.

They will play in the Europa League qualifiers in August against opponents yet to be determined, with the draw to be held on Monday.