It’s like getting a free sample of something when you go to the supermarket.
You get a little taste of something, but it’s just not quite enough to entice you to go out and buy the whole thing. That’s pretty much the situation that QPR boss Mark Warburton has got himself in with young defender Conor Masterson.
Having given him a little taste of first-team action in the FA Cup victory over Swansea, it looks as if that is going to be the lot for the 21-year-old Irishman, as Warburton is still insisting on sending him out on loan to develop over the next couple of months.
Speaking after the game, Warburton said:
“He did very well but you have to understand the level of Championship football week in week out. Our job is to develop the young players. Do you develop by sitting on the bench here, hoping to get five minutes when you’ve got Grant Hall back, Yoann Barbet back, Toni Leistner back? Or do you go out and play 15 games?”
I personally believe that sending him out on loan is the correct decision to make, as Warburton says, it’s better for him to be playing rather than sat around doing nothing, so long as the club ensures that they have enough cover to deal with his departure.
At the moment, QPR have got five senior centre-backs in their squad, and if Masterson were to depart, that would leave them with four. This should be enough to get them through the rest of the season, but there is just that little bit of doubt that there could always be a disaster looming around the corner where the club goes through an injury/suspension crisis and we’re left with just the bare bones.
Would you like to see Masterson sent on loan to develop?
Yes
No
So if the club do agree to send him out on loan and find a club willing to do business, then by all means, they should let him, but they need to bring someone in as well, just to act as that safety blanket in case of an emergency.
