James Beadle's loan move to Oxford United looks the obvious next step for the highly regarded young goalkeeper.

The England under-20 international impressed with his ability, maturity and confidence when he spent the second half of last term at Crewe.

He got off to a flying start with a clean sheet at Walsall, then made a stunning save two minutes into his home debut against Rochdale.

Now comes the chance to gain experience across a long season at Oxford, who believe they beat plenty of opposition from the Championship and League One for his services.

Beadle is very confident and capable with the ball at his feet – which is pretty much an essential quality for Albion goalkeepers.

There was one notable moment when he gave a goal away with a poor pass in an under-23s game late in the 2021-22 season.

But he was unshaken by that and continued to play his passes in that game and ever since, which speaks volumes.

He will have worked closely with senior goalkeeping staff at Albion, including current coach Ricard Segarra, who previously took the young keepers at Barcelona.

He also travelled and warmed up with the first team for some Premier League games before joining Crewe.

Is he good enough for League One? He is certainly good enough for that challenge.

The move is in line with the sort of process we have seen with goalkeepers Robert Sanchez (Forest Green, then Rochdale) and Carl Rushworth (Walsall, then Lincoln) in terms of taking steps up the EFL with each loan.

The best example of this was actually a defender – Ben White, who, in successive seasons went to Newport (League Two), Peterborough (League One) and Leeds (Championship).

Whether he is ready to impress in League One is for Oxford to find out.

Beadle spoke about looking to share in a successful season but Oxford will need to improve on last term;s 18th place.

Their boss Liam Manning said: “He is highly-rated and for good reason.

“He’s tall, athletic, commands his area and is a modern keeper who distributes the ball really well.

“Even though he’s only 18, he has a fantastic attitude, and we can’t wait to start working with him to continue his development.”