PREVIEW: Bristol Rovers vs Southend
BRISTOL Rovers midfielder Seanan Clucas says he is ready to leave his early-season frustrations behind him by grabbing his latest opportunity to nail down a regular place in the side.
Clucas was a surprise inclusion in the Rovers side that eventually succumbed to a 2-1 FA Cup defeat at the hands of Sheffield United to play his first game in almost three months.
The Northern Ireland Under-21, who arrived on a free transfer over the summer after leaving Preston North End at the end of last season, has cut a frustrated figure having been forced to warm the bench since last featuring at Barnet on August 21.
Clucas, however, was "pleased" with his performance on his return to the side on Saturday and is hoping to have done enough to persuade manager Mark McGhee to offer him another opportunity alongside David Clarkson in the middle of the park for tonight's game against Southend United at the Memorial Stadium.
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Clucas, pictured, said: "It is definitely good to be back involved and playing football again.
"I was just pleased that the manager gave me a chance, but I still think there is a lot more to come from me.
"I was happy with my performance, but any player needs a good run of games to really show what he can do.
"It is always frustrating for a player to be sitting on the bench and it wasn't any different for me in that regard.
"It was probably even more frustrating for me because I wasn't even coming on for ten or 15 minutes, but you know that you have to play a waiting game when you are a young player.
"I was always aware of that when I came here so I knew that if a chance came my way I'd have to take it. I thought I did well and hope it was enough to get me a couple of more chances to show what I can do."
McGhee declared himself happy with the combative midfielder's display after revealing concerns that he had gone off the boil in the weeks since making a good impression upon arrival at the Memorial Stadium.
Clucas added: "The manager told me that he thought I was capable of being one of his first-choice midfielders when I first came here.
"He pulled me in a couple of weeks ago and explained that he felt I'd gone quiet in training and that I'd lost the aggressive edge I showed when I first came here.
"I've worked hard on that since and the manager told me last week that he had been pleased with how I'd improved.
"I've had to build a trust with all the lads and the manager and I've had to do that by working hard to impress them in training.
"I needed a kick up the backside and it made me take a look at things in a different way. I need to show improvement consistently now to keep myself in his thoughts."
McGhee, meanwhile, hinted yesterday that Clucas may be offered another chance to claim a regular place as Rovers bid to end a recent run of three successive defeats against Paul Sturrock's side.
"I thought he did well," said McGhee. "Seanan has really emerged again during training over the last couple of weeks.
"He'd dipped under the radar a little bit before that and I don't know why that was. There are always things I'd like to see him improve, but he was given a chance on Saturday and he has largely taken it."
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