Dale Eve, the Bermuda goalkeeper, could go out on loan again this season to gain valuable first-team experience, Mark Hughes, the Stoke City manager, said yesterday.

Hughes said that it was likely that Eve would be loaned to a Skrill Conference Premier side, having spent a month this season at Fleetwood Town, of Sky Bet League Two, without making an appearance.

“We’ll be looking to get Dale out on loan before the end of the season,” Hughes told The Sentinel.

“He was close to joining a non-League side on loan recently to get some game time, but it fell through when he picked up a knock.

“That’s what he needs for the next stage of his development; he needs to play some games.”

It is understood that Eve, 19, has been offered a new two-year deal by Stoke after impressing for club’s under-20 side.

“Opportunity to represent #scfc for another two years. Plenty room for improvement,” the 6ft 4in goalkeeper wrote on Twitter this week.

Eve, who became one of Bermuda’s youngest players ever when, aged 16, he appeared as a substitute in a 2-1 win over Barbados in World Cup qualifier in 2011, was the only first-year Academy scholar to be handed professional terms last summer after his eye-catching displays for Stoke Under-18.

The former Dandy Town player was recruited by Stoke after impressing their scouts while playing for Derby County’s youth team. It is understood that Manchester City had also been interested in the former CedarBridge Academy pupil.