TEENAGE midfielder Ryan Yates can be held up as an example to bring future stars to Barrow AFC.

Bluebirds boss Paul Cox missed out on landing a second loan deal for the Nottingham Forest youngster when he went to League One Shrewsbury Town on transfer deadline day.

However, Cox is taking positives from Yates' move to a club two divisions higher up the footballing pyramid than AFC.

The AFC manager believes Yates' success during his three-and-a-half months at Holker Street – during which time he made 21 appearances and scored one goal – helped develop his game immensely and can only have contributed to his switch to Shrewsbury.

While Cox had hoped that the 19-year-old would return for a second spell with Barrow this month – having overcome an injury picked up in the final days of his last loan period – he believes other clubs, and Forest themselves, will have noticed the progress made by Yates and will turn to AFC in the future when it comes to loaning out other players.

Already, that appears to have been the case, with striker Shaun Tuton arriving from Championship side Barnsley and midfielder Jack Thomas from League Two Mansfield Town, with discussions ongoing over two Football League defenders as well.

“We can see it as being disappointed, because we have brought the lad in and he has done brilliantly for us," said Cox. "But part and parcel of taking players on loan is that they are someone else's player and we have to be respectful.

“Part of the deal is that we try and improve the player, we give the player that game experience. The lad had progressed so much and the options for Forest, where we have a good relationship, were to keep him around their first-team or for him to go into the Football League.

“These are the sort of problems you have sometimes with loans. They are not your player, they're not on your contract, so you have to play Russian roulette.

“These are the relationships we need with these bigger clubs as our club progresses and grows. I think that is key – even though we have lost Ryan Yates, we've been working with clubs in higher league to find the next one, to help us in our quest for success."

Cox has no doubt that Yates will continue to advance his career beyond being with Shrewsbury, with a first-team debut for the City Ground team a realistic prospect in the near future.

“He's a great kid and I hope to see him in a Forest shirt soon," Cox added. "I think the kid is good enough."