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GRANT McCANN has told Leeds United he expects Charlie Crew's loan to take off when the midfielder returns from international duty with Wales Under-21s.
The full international is on his second loan with Doncaster Rovers this year. But having started 11 League Two matches in the second half of last season, he has kicked off just three League One games since returning in the summer.
Leaning on his experience with Patrick Kelly last season, McCann feels the biggest reason is the bittiness of the schedule for a player who will miss club games for the third month in a row due to international fixtures.
"I think it'll be comparable to what you saw with PK last year," said McCann, who had Northern Irish Under-21 international on loan from West Ham United last season. "Charlie came in January last season, this season's he's come in at the start of the season.
BRIGHT FUTURE: Charlie Crew, in action for Wales against Canada back in September Picture: Dan Mullan/Getty Imagesplaceholder image
BRIGHT FUTURE: Charlie Crew, in action for Wales against Canada back in September Picture: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
"We've had conversations with Leeds and I've had conversations with Charlie and his agents to say when the November international break passes I think we'll start to see a more polished Charlie Crew.
"I'm not saying he's not (polished). He's training very well, he's a great kid, good attitude, wants to do well, tremendous footballer, but once it settles and this international break finishes, the next camp isn't until March.
"So I'll think we'll see a more all-round Charlie Crew, a bit like we saw with PK last year." Of Kelly's 15 League Two starts for Rovers, six came before November's international break.
Now at Barnsley, Kelly admits it was difficult.
"That was something that really annoyed me last season," said Kelly.
"There was one of the camps where we were playing two kind of nothing games because we couldn't qualify and I was missing three games at Donny. I was in the team before that and it was definitely a bit disruptive because we had three camps as soon as I got there - September, October, November. It wasn't ideal.
"Thankfully the (Barnsley) games this season have been postponed."