The ex-Chelsea youngster is enjoying life at the Toughsheet Community Stadium
Andy Dawson believes Mason Burstow will return to Hull City next summer a completely different proposition to the one that left last month to spend the campaign on loan in Lancashire.
Burstow has bagged four goals in eight games to kick off his season in League One with promotion favourites Bolton Wanderers, form which has caught the eye of Tigers fan keeping close tabs on the 22-year-old frontman.
The youngster joined late in the transfer window last summer from Chelsea in a deal worth around £2m, but Burstow struggled to pin down a regular spot in the starting XI under Tim Walter and then Ruben Selles.
He managed just two Championship goals, with both of those coming in quick succession after Walter’s sacking, and was often played out wide rather than in his favoured number nine position.
Now with the Trotters, Dawson, who has become the Tigers’ loan manager as part of a new role at the MKM Stadium, has confidence that Burstow will return to City next summer a very different player.
“It’s about recognising where the players are at the time in their career, the age, the games that they’ve had, and giving them opportunities,” Dawson told Hull Live.
“There are very, very few players who play in the Championship regularly at 19, 20, 21. Generally, they go out on loan, they progress, they have a year, they have a really good year, they might go again, they have another year. There are so many players like that.
“Mason’s flourishing at the moment; he’s scored four goals in seven games, again, at a level that now he can go and flourish at. He’s confident; you can see him, he’s enjoying his football. I’m sure in a year’s time, we’re going to get a different Mason as well.”
Burstow is one of a number of players out on loan from the Tigers, including Matty Jacob at Reading, Thimothee Lo-Tutala at Doncaster Rovers and Harvey Cartwright at Hartlepool United.
Going out and playing regular football is absolutely crucial, says Dawson, if these players are to develop into to footballers capable of having a good career at City, or elsewhere.
“Ideally, when you look at pathways, that’s what a lot of clubs do,” he said of City’s long list of loanees. “They’ve got their young players, they know they’re maybe not ready for their level, but they give them those opportunities. They keep developing, they get them out on loan and then bang, they come back and they’re ready to go and flourish in your own first team rather than judging them on two games here, five games there. They make mistakes because they’re young players. They’ve never had the opportunity to make mistakes.”
Here at Hull Live , we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.