'Wait and see' - Doncaster Rovers could benefit from early return of international man

The West Ham loanee is currently away with Northern Ireland's under-21s as they prepare for a double-header. Tommy Wright's side take on England and Ukraine in a home double-header in Ballymena on Friday and next Tuesday respectively.

Kelly was absent from Rovers' squad for last night's impressive win over Huddersfield Town in their opening EFL Trophy and will also sit out Saturday's visit of Gillingham in the league.

It was also expected that the 19-year-old would also miss out for the Yorkshire derby trip to Harrogate, a fixture that has been moved forward to Thursday, September 12 after being selected for live television coverage.

However, Rovers' assistant coach Cliff Byrne has suggested there is a possibility Kelly could return for that game - depending on timelines.

Speaking to the Free Press, Byrne said: "Patrick returns midweek next week but with the way that international football works we'll just have to wait and see.

"We'll see when he gets back in, when his game is, how late in the day it is before he travels back and everything else.

"We'll monitor that and keep an eye on his workloads and the manager will be keeping in touch with the Northern Irish under-21s boss Tommy Wright and we'll just assess really it as we go."