Allen chose son over Ravenhill

Martin Allen says emergence of his son Charlie this season was a factor in his decision to let Ricky Ravenhill leave Notts County on loan.

After helping Notts win the League Two title in 2010 and playing 90 games in his first two seasons with the club, Ravenhill joined Bradford last week on a two-month deal. Ravenhill has featured only seven times for the Magpies this campaign, because Allen has preferred to pair captain Neal Bishop and Gavin Mahon in central midfield. The Notts boss believes his 19-year-old son, who has played five league games since moving to Meadow Lane in the summer, Hamza Bencherif and John Spicer will step-up in the absence of Bishop and Mahon. "I had a private chat with Ricky a couple of months ago and we came to a gentlemen's agreement that if a club came along that he wanted to join and was good for us too, with them paying plenty of his wages, he could go," Allen told the Nottingham Post. "Ricky's been a fantastic servant, but I could not promise him a first-team place and when Gavin Mahon signed on, it was always going to make it harder for Ricky. "It leaves us a little bit short, but with Hamza and Charlie, who is emerging as a good player, and Spicer, who is training really hard, we still have a few players for that central midfield position."