Doncaster Rovers casting eyes over Derby County player ahead of January transfer window | OneFootball

The 20-year-old is reportedly training in South Yorkshire already

Doncaster Rovers are eyeing up a potential move for Derby County midfielder Darren Robinson ahead of the January transfer window.

The Northern Ireland youth international made his Rams debut three years ago as a substitute against Bristol City, but has only appeared a further three times for the first-team since then.

Over the past 18 months, Robinson has been loaned out in search of game time - with spells at National League side Hartlepool United and St Patrick's Athletic in the League of Ireland Premier Division.

It now seems likely that the 20-year-old's next club will be Rovers, although the exact nature of any deal has not been clarified at this stage.

Derby County's Darren Robinson is training with Doncaster Rovers

As per the Doncaster Free Press, Robinson is now reportedly training with Grant McCann's side, having made 10 appearances for St Pat's this year before their season concluded in November.

This development comes after the midfielder was spotted sitting next to the injured Toyosi Olusanya wearing a club tracksuit during Rovers' win over Peterborough United on Saturday - but fans were unsure on who the 'mystery man' was in and around the dugout.

Now confirmed to be Robinson, with the club casting eyes over him behind closed doors, it suggests that Derby are open to allowing him to leave the club - either on a temporary basis or potentially on a more permanent arrangement during the winter transfer window.

The midfielder - who can also play in defence as a centre-back - has struggled to break through at Pride Park despite showing considerable promise in the academy setup, and a spell in League One could prove the perfect platform to speed his professional career up.

Darren Robinson is out of contract at Derby County next year - his time at Pride Park could be running out

In May last year, Robinson ​​signed a two-year deal that ties him to the club until next summer - essentially making him out of contract at the end of this season.

From Derby's perspective, the current squad depth in midfield is low - given the injuries to David Ozoh and Lewis Travis - so there was every chance he could’ve been given a chance under John Eustace at some point this season.

But seeing as though he’s apparently training in South Yorkshire now, it’s perhaps clear that Robinson is unlikely to feature in the manager's plans for this season at least.

With Doncaster towards the foot of the League One table, albeit six points clear of the relegation zone, the assumption can be made that Robinson would have a better chance at playing more regularly there than Derby.

Although he is still only 20-years-old, given the fact that Robinson won the Rams' Scholar of the Season for 22/23, many fans probably expected him to have been in the first-team by now. But, the reality is that the midfielder hasn't played an awful lot of men's football at all yet.

Across six seasons, he has only played 21 games at first-team level, and even the third tier is a huge step up from where he played earlier on in the season. It's worth mentioning the Northern Irish link between Robinson and McCann though, as the Rovers boss may trust him fully to play in League One.