Despite having some experience as a senior Queens Park Rangers player, Conor Masterson is finding himself developing in League One this season at Cambridge United on loan from the Hoops.
The 23-year-old Irishman has been a Rangers player since 2019 after arriving from Liverpool and has 16 Championship appearances on his record, which mainly came in the 2019-20 campaign.
After dropping down the pecking order though Masterson joined Swindon in the third tier in January 2021 but that was cut short due to an injury, and he's making up for lost time at Cambridge.
The Republic of Ireland under-21 international has been pretty much an ever-present at the Abbey Stadium this season but his stint at the U's is set to come to an end as it stands on January 3, 2022.
Masterson is unlikely to get much game-time if he heads back to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on that date, and recognising that he has admitted that he would love to stay with Mark Bonner's side until the end of the season - and potentially beyond.
“Right now, I can’t really worry about that to be honest (his loan expiring)," Masterson told CambridgeshireLive.
"I’m just focused on doing well for Cambridge, and when it comes to that time, we’ll see what happens.
“If Bonz (Mark Bonner) and the rest of the staff are open for that, I’d love to (extend his stay), but right now it’s not up to me. It’s up to my parent club QPR and Cambridge.”
The Verdict
With Masterson not getting the game-time at QPR it was a wise decision to drop down a league in search of more football.
He's thriving at Cambridge currently in a team that's doing well for their first season back in the third tier and it would make sense if he remained there for the duration of the campaign.
Masterson is not on an expiring contract this coming summer though so his future is a bit up in the air - is he good enough for a play-off chasing Championship side or will Mark Warburton look to move him on?
Whatever the case is though Masterson on a personal level is having a decent season and he should be keen to play as much as he can ahead of whatever happens next summer.