Queens Park Rangers signed Conor Masterson on a free from Liverpool in the summer, but the youngster’s yet to feature for the club - why not?

Mark Warburton conducted a mass overhaul of QPR in the summer - 14 in and 17 out.

His new-look side were expected to start the season slowly and many had tipped them for relegation from the Championship, but that’s not been the case - far from it.

A win on Monday night against Brentford would've seen QPR go 2nd in the Championship, but a 3-1 defeat at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium keeps them 8th in the table - a point off Bristol City in 6th.

It was a chance missed for Warburton, but he can still old his head high after what’s been an unexpectedly strong start to the season.

Of the 14 who arrived in the summer, fans were most excited about Conor Masterson.

The Irishman was released by the Reds in the summer, and Warburton was quick to make him a QPR player.

But he’s not made his debut for the club yet.

He’s been an ever-present figure for his national side at under-21 level, having played against Iceland and Italy earlier this month, but Warburton has felt no need to throw him into the QPR XI.

Masterson has been named on the bench on several occasion this season, but the defender is still waiting for his first appearances in blue and white and he may be starting to feel aggrieved by this - and rightly so.

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With his side the only one in the Championship yet to keep a clean sheet this season, you’d have expected Warburton to have mixed his defence up a bit, and give some new faces a go.

But with a five-strong defence, and Toni Leistner, Geoff Cameron and Yoann Barbet consistently making up the middle of that five, Masterson remains a back-up player.

Whilst Leistner, the club captain, is unlikely to lose his spot in the starting side, the likes of Cameron and Barbet could easily make way for Masterson, at least for a game or so.

The 21-year-old is yet to make his debut in senior professional football and Warburton may feel that, at this stage of the Championship season, giving Masterson his first start is too much of a risk.

A loan-move may be beneficial for Masterson, or even some game-time for the under-23 squad. But fans remain eager to see him in action, and hopefully they will at some point this season.