Ian Murray is keen to extend Connor O’Riordan’s loan deal from Crewe Alexandra.
The 18-year-old central defender has played every minute for Raith Rovers since arriving in August – thrown in for debut versus league favourites Dundee.
The Raith boss – himself a centre-half in his playing days – wants to send O’Riordan back to The Railwaymen a better footballer.
He told Courier Sport he will do what he can to keep the defender beyond his current loan deal which expires in January.
Proactive parent club
“We’ll speak to Crewe and see what they’re thinking,” said Murray.
“Ultimately he’s not our player. That’s the bottom line, but hopefully they see the benefits.
“They’re very, very good with their young players – they’ve got a lot of good young players down there.
“And they’re very proactive in watching them, asking for reports about them.”
Murray was impressed with how well O’Riordan coped with Queen’s Park’s in-form strikers in Raith’s most recent outing.
He and the rest of the defence did struggle at times to cope with the threat from set-pieces, however.
Constant presence
Whether winning or losing, O’Riordan has made himself one of the first names on the team sheet.
He is also the man tasked with being the sole defender on the pitch when Murray decides to go gung ho.
“Every game he looks like he’s more confident, he’s definitely more confident on the ball,” continued Murray. “He’s very good in the air.
“It’s about experience for Connor. He’s a young guy coming up from down south.
“We give him full credit for making that move.
“I’ve really liked him, he’s really fitted in well to our changing room.
“The supporters like him and we hope we can hold on to him for the duration of the season – and helping him improve.
“Our aim is to send him back to Crewe a better footballer and I do feel it is benefiting him at the moment.
“We’ll keep in dialogue with them but it’s kind of out of our hands.
“We can only do what we can do, but we hope we can keep him for the season.”
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