Gillingham manager Neil Harris on his desire to keep QPR defender Conor Masterson and Shrewsbury forward Aiden O’Brien; Tristan Abrahams returns to Eastleigh and Hakeeb Adelakun back to Lincoln City

Gillingham boss Neil Harris has spoken for the first time about his desire to keep loanee Conor Masterson - and that the defender wants to stay.

Masterson has been a class act in two loans spells from Championship side QPR and an ever-present starter under Harris. He’s out of contract this summer and negotiations are ongoing over a permanent deal at Priestfield.

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The player is out of contract at QPR this summer and although the Gills may have competition for his signature, Harris will be confident of keeping hold of the 24-year-old Irish-born centre-half.

League 1 Exeter City have been touted as a possible alternative for the defender but the Gills will have enough financial muscle to see off that challenge. They managed to lure away midfield man Timothee Dieng from the Grecians in January after paying an undisclosed fee.

Masterson has played 38 league games for the Gills over the past two seasons, first joining in January last year for the battle to stay in League 1. He returned to QPR in the summer and was around their first team in the early stages of the campaign.

When it came to January 2023, he wasn’t getting a look-in at his parent club and the Gills needed a replacement centre-half following Elkan Baggott’s loan switch to Cheltenham. Masterson was the obvious answer and he has been a solid fixture in the back-line ever since.

In those 38 games for Gillingham he’s helped the side to 16 clean sheets.

Harris said: “Conor Masterson has done excellent on his loan and he loves it here, he wants to play for Gillingham next year, and I want to keep him, that’s ongoing. Fingers crossed that’s positive.”

Shrewsbury forward Aiden O’Brien is another player Harris wants to add to his