IRISH DEFENDER CONOR Masterson is making another temporary move to League One.

Cambridge United have signed the 22-year-old on loan from Championship club Queens Park Rangers until January.

Masterson will link up with compatriot Wes Hoolahan at Cambridge, who were promoted from League Two last season.

The Kildare native made five League One appearances for Swindon Town during the 2020-21 campaign before a loan deal was cut short by injury.

He impressed Cambridge United manager Mark Bonner while playing for QPR during a recent friendly between the clubs.

“We are pleased to add Conor to our squad and, having played against us in pre-season and seen him in a brief loan with Swindon Town last season, we believe he will make the transition to our team quickly in view of recent injuries to Greg Taylor and Jubril Okedina,” said Bonner.

“We have seen both Paul Digby and Jack Iredale perform well there in recent games but adding Conor gives us a more specialist central defender. He is excited by the challenge and by his potential to help us as we continue to find our feet at this level.

“We are grateful to QPR for their support in enabling this loan to happen in such a tight timeframe and look forward to helping Conor become a part of the team in due course.”

Masterson, who has made 20 first-team appearances for QPR since joining the club in 2019, wasn’t included in the squad for any of their three Championship fixtures so far this season.

A key member of the Republic of Ireland U21 squad during Stephen Kenny’s reign as manager, the former Liverpool youngster captained the side in the European Championship qualifiers against Italy, Iceland and Luxembourg following Jayson Molumby’s graduation to the senior set-up.