Warburton: Masterson not ready for QPR first team yet

Mark Warburton has insisted that Conor Masterston will not be thrown into the QPR side too soon.

The Irish centre-back, 21, moved to west London in the summer after leaving Liverpool.

Masterson is yet to make his senior debut and R’s boss Warburton, whose team are yet to keep a clean sheet this season, seemingly has no intention of selecting him just yet.

Speaking at his post-match press conference after QPR’s 2-2 draw against Middlesbrough on Saturday, Warburton took exception to a suggestion that Masterson was arguably unfortunate to be overlooked given that Toni Leistner and Yoann Barbet were out injured.

“This is something I get frustrated about,” Warburton replied.

“We signed a young player to come in here and to build part of our squad for the future.

“It doesn’t mean you sign the player to go straight into the first team. He’s a young player with lots of development. He’s a very talented lad but he needs to develop his game.

“The Championship is ruthless. What we have to do is manage all the players.

“Conor’s a player who I hope will have a really bright future at QPR. We’ve got to manage him correctly.

“When I hear things like ‘throw him in’…come on.”

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