SWINDON Town has confirmed the signing of Queens Park Rangers centre-back Conor Masterson on loan for the rest of the season.

The 22-year-old comes highly recommended, with reports from the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium calling the Irishman a ball-playing defender who has similarities in style to England defender, John Stones.

Since being released by Liverpool in the summer of 2019, Masterson has made 16 Championship appearances for QPR – four of which have come this season.

The Irish under-21 international has also featured three times in the FA Cup for QPR, with a solitary League Cup appearance as well.

Masterson's arrival pushes the number of Town's loanees up to six, however, due to recent rule changes, John Sheridan's men are able to field five loans at one time.

The sixth loanee can be in the match day squad, but there cannot be more than five on the pitch at the same time, therefore this does not necessarily mean the end of Tyler or Jonny Smith's time at the County Ground.

The other issue facing the Swindon manager is that Town now have eight centre-backs to choose from.

The acquisition of Masterson may see the departure of up to four Town defenders, with Mathieu Baudry, Jonathan Grounds, Paul Caddis and Tom Broadbent the likely candidates.

Reports out of West London suggested Masterson may have joined Town in September, but QPR were unable to bring in another centre-back in order to allow Masterson to depart for valuable first-team football.

However, now that Mark Warburton's side has signed former Hull City defender Jordy de Wijs, the Irishman has finally been able to depart the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium in search of becoming a regular starter.

Masterson is in line to make his Town debut away at Charlton Athletic on Saturday.