JOHN Coleman says on-loan Blackburn Rovers striker Jamie Clarke has put himself back in contention for a starting place at Accrington Stanley.

Clarke joined Stanley in August on a loan deal that runs until December 31 but, after an encouraging start that included an impressive goal at Exeter, he has featured only twice since October 4.

Some of that was down to a persistent hip injury but the 20-year-old also failed to make much of an impact after the arrival of fellow striker Terry Gornell on loan from Tranmere.

But, with Gornell now back at Tranmere and replaced by loan forward Gregg Blundell, Clarke came off the bench to slam home a penalty in the 2-1 defeat to Bury last weekend.

And that could put him back in the frame for a start, with Stanley travelling to Lincoln in League Two on Friday night.

Coleman said: “Jamie has shown that he wants to play and he’s knocking on the door for a recall.

“It’s been a little bit stop start for him. When he came, he was quite bright at the start and then he got injured.

“I think that hampered him a little bit.

“If you come in and score goals you’re going to keep your place.

“We’ve never said to anyone that we’ve took on loan that we’ll guarantee them the shirt for the duration of the loan period.

“But what we have said in the past is that we’ll guarantee them a start and it’s up to them to keep the shirt.”