Cambridge United boss Garry Monk has admitted that he is planning for Bristol City loanee Josh Stokes to remain at the Cledara Abbey Stadium beyond the January transfer window.
The Robins secured the attacking midfielder’s signature in the final stages of the January transfer window, but Stokes remained with Aldershot Town for the remainder of the campaign before joining up with Liam Manning’s squad during pre-season.
Although the 20-year-old was named among the substitutes for City’s opening day draw with Hull City and featured off of the bench in their Carabao Cup defeat to Coventry City, the decision was taken to allow him to leave Ashton Gate on loan for the season, with Cambridge ultimately winning the race for his services.
While there has been no indication from either club so far that Stokes’ stay with the U’s could be cut short, Monk is planning for the attacking midfielder to be part of his squad in the second half of the campaign.
“It makes sense to me as a coach,” Monk told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. “Obviously, that’s in the club’s hands to deal with that and I haven’t been any indifferent from Josh being here for the whole season. That’s what we signed him on loan for.
“He’s had a period out, he had a good start so he’s not played loads of football. Looking from here for them and Josh for his development, I think the opportunity for him to play a lot of minutes and contribute really well, which we expect him to do going forward will be great for his development. I’m planning for him and I’ve not been told any different so it’s important we keep those types of players but sometimes those things aren’t always in your hands, but I haven’t been told anything. Just planning for him to be here, he wants to be here, and we want him to be here and use his quality moving forward definitely.”
So far, Stokes has been limited to just five appearances in League One this season, having been sidelined for almost three months following an injury sustained in the U’s defeat to Mansfield back in September.
But having featured for Bristol City Under-21s, the 20-year-old has made his return to the Cambridge squad in recent weeks and even managed to score in the EFL Trophy defeat to Cheltenham Town last week before playing the final 20 minutes of the U’s draw with Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday.
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With his fitness issues behind him, Monk is hoping that the attacking midfielder will be able to play a major role at the Cledara Abbey Stadium over the coming months having shown flashes of his ability earlier this season.
“Part of the reason for bringing him here was that you could see his ability and what he brings to the team,” explained the former Swansea City boss. “I think he’s already shown that, although he’s had like I said, quite a long period out.
“He started really well but you saw on Tuesday the quality he can add and a different dynamic to the team. But we have to remind ourselves that he’s still building up, he’s not fully match fit yet but the bigger picture is that moving forward he’ll be a big part of what we want to do.”
Stokes will have another chance to build up his match minutes before Christmas was Cambridge welcome Huddersfield Town to the Cledara Abbey Stadium on Friday evening, with the U’s then facing games against Charlton Athletic, Leyton Orient and Reading over the festive period.