Chance to work again with striker Leon Clarke being relished by Scunthorpe United boss Brian Laws
Scunthorpe United manager Brian Laws believes striker Leon Clarke is in the best form of his career.
The 27-year-old has been a revelation since joining United early in September, with his goal at Walsall on Tuesday night the eighth of a prolific loan spell.
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Leon Clarke celebrates scoring the fourth goal for Scunthorpe United against Walsall on Tuesday night
Laws is relishing the opportunity to work again with Clarke, whom he signed from Wolves just months into his reign as Sheffield Wednesday boss.
During their time together at Hillsborough, the striker made as many appearances from the bench as he did starts and struggled for consistency.
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He says the Clarke of today is a totally different person.
"He's grown up for sure," Laws told the Telegraph.
"When I had him at Sheffield Wednesday he was 21, a young kid that was raw.
"He'll understand he wasn't in good shape – he was carrying weight and his mind was on different things.
"We never got any consistency out of him. Sometimes he was outstanding, other times he was very poor.
"The pressure for Leon at such a young age, having left home for the first time, made it tough for him.
"You can see the more games he plays his confidence starting to come back.
"He went out on loan and scored a lot of goals, which was what he probably needed."
Although he has not netted more than once in a match at Scunthorpe, Clarke has failed to score in only three of his 11 appearances.
He is certain to remain a key part of Laws' United side, until he has to return to parent club Charlton Athletic in four weeks' time.
"He's grown up now. He's slim, really well-balanced and he's a nice kid," Laws added.
"He has these little moments with managers, but sometimes he realises after the event whether he was right or wrong.
"It's a learning curve for him and I think what you are seeing now is the best of him.
"There's no doubt there'll be a lot of clubs trying to get him January.
"Leon suits this league, for sure.
"He's scored for everybody that he's been on loan too.
"I thought he'd be a great signing for the football club because I knew he'd get goals.
"But he needs to play regularly.
"In the Championship he wasn't playing as many games, so he couldn't get that run going.
"When I look at how many opportunities he's actually had, there have been very little.
"His percentage when it comes to finishing is remarkable. I just want to give him more and more opportunities so he can score more and more goals."
Comments
by DFlated
Saturday, November 10 2012, 8:33AM
“To be fair as much as we would like him here his wages will be the biggest stumbling block unless he realises that this level is where he excels and is prepared to accept £1000 a week and a bag of Werthers. Five years ago it would have been a nailed on cert he would come here, remember the good old days?”
by carllewis2010
Friday, November 09 2012, 8:17PM
“Lawsy you could do with offloading one or two sicknotes and signing him on a permanent basis. "UP THE IRON"!!!”
by Gman76
Friday, November 09 2012, 11:52AM
“36/1 on Betfair to be top scorer, surely worth a few quid even if he ends up elsewhere in league one.”
by ironite
Friday, November 09 2012, 10:39AM
“Failing to score in only three out of 8 games is a pretty amazing record in a struggling side who haven't been able to allocate the goals elsewhere. Even more so when you consider Clarke has had disciplinary problems in the past, so showing that level of commitment when he's only on loan is a major boost.
We're in trouble if that loan doesn't get extended, it might scupper our automatic promotion bid for this year.”