Arrival of Leeds United loanee could have knock-on effect for 'forgotten' Doncaster Rovers man

Goalkeeper Louis Jones has slipped down the pecking order and hasn't played for the club since last May. Bobby Faulkner is another on the periphery: you have to go back even further for his last outing, in October 2023.

Whilst those two are both out of contract this summer and generally out of the picture, the situation is a lot less clear for Zain Westbrooke.

The midfielder is one of only a handful of players in the squad contracted beyond this summer but his involvement this term has been minimal to say the least. He has played just five times, with his minutes in League Two amounting to just 158 minutes. For context, Ephraim Yeboah managed 245 minutes before his forgettable loan spell from to Bristol City was ended.

Westbrooke's last inclusion in a league matchday squad was the home win over Gillingham back in early September. Since then he's been an unused sub in the FA Cup win at Kettering and had a brief cameo from the bench in an EFL Trophy game against Port Vale in mid-December.

The 28-year-old had been carrying a thigh injury but recovered from that to feature in the aforementioned Trophy game before Christmas. Since then he has fallen back out of the picture and it appears the amount of competition in the engine room is only going to increase even further with Leeds United's Charlie Crew poised to become the latest incoming in what is becoming a brisk transfer window for Rovers.

Should Crew's arrival be sanctioned - it is understood an arrangement could be reached before the week is out - then it will provide another hurdle for the former Coventry City man. Crew would complement Owen Bailey - one of the first names on McCann's teamsheet and an ever-present in the league so far - as well as Patrick Kelly, George Broadbent, Harry Clifton and Ben Close. Indeed, Close had appeared to be in a similar boat to Westbrooke before his recent renaissance. He played extra-time in Sunday's FA Cup tie at Hull City and produced an extravagant Panenka penalty that helped Rovers pull off an upset. He's also had more involvement than Westbrooke this term, despite a return from a long lay-off.

McCann said before the Hull game that ideally he wanted a 20-man squad, confirming to the Free Press that the figure includes outfield players only. At present, that particular number stands at 24 (including the injured Richard Wood) with Crew set to bump it up by one.

With just under three weeks until the window shuts and a plethora of midfield options at McCann's disposal it begs the question of where Westbrooke fits into all of this.