Loan Watch: Romain Helps Dijon Draw

By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Managing Editor

Romain Amalfitano helped FC Dijon claim a 2-2 draw against Ligue 2 leaders Metz on Monday night.

The attacking midfielder, who is on a season-long loan at the Stade Gaston Gérard, was handed a starting spot in a three-pronged attack for the hosts.

And it paid dividends as, having fallen behind to a Diafra Sakho effort, Dijon fought back to take the lead, with Julio Tavares and Florin Berenguer on target either side of half-time.

Amalfitano was replaced after 77 minutes and it looked as if he and his teammates had done enough to claim an impressive victory, but Sakho converted a dramatic equaliser in the first minute of stoppage time to grab a share of the spoils.

Dijon remain ninth in Ligue 2 with six games remaining.

Back on home soil, James Tavernier and Haris Vuckic saw Rotherham's hopes of automatic promotion from League One suffer another blow in a goalless draw with Bradford on Friday night.

Tavernier played the full 90 minutes at the New York Stadium, while Vuckic was introduced from the bench with 27 minutes remaining.

And the Solvenian substitute had a good chance to break the deadlock but chipped off the target as the Millers failed to make some late pressure count.

Elsewhere, it was a quiet weekend for United's loanees, with no fixtures for St. Mirren or Birmingham City, meaning no game time for Adam Campbell, Conor Newton or Shane Ferguson.

In the Barclays Premier League, Jonas Gutierrez's Norwich City went down 1-0 at Fulham, but the Argentine was not involved, while in Greece, Mehdi Abeid didn't make the matchday squad for Panathinaikos' defeat against Skoda Xanthi.