Birmingham City head coach Pep Clotet has praised Jake Clarke-Salter for his performances in recent weeks and has insisted that the defender will keep his place in the team if he continues to do well.

The 22-year-old joined Birmingham on a season-long loan from Chelsea in the summer, but he struggled to make an impact straight away and only featured twice for the Blues in the first three months of the season.

However, the centre-back has started the last four matches for the Blues in the Championship and scored his first goal for the club in the 1-1 draw with Millwall at St Andrew's at the weekend.

If recent reports are to believed, Clarke-Salter's impressive performances for the Blues have attracted interest from a number of other Championship clubs ahead of the January transfer window.

Chelsea are monitoring the defender's situation closely and are considering recalling him in January and sending him out on loan elsewhere - unless he is given more game time at St Andrew's.

Birmingham head coach Pep Clotet has praised Clarke-Salter for his recent displays and explained that he has been very honest with Chelsea about how hard it would be for the defender to get into the team at Birmingham.

Speaking to the club's media at his press conference this afternoon, Clotet insisted the Clarke-Salter will keep his place in the Birmingham side if he continues to do well.

He told the club's media: "He is growing a lot and his focus is getting better. We look at the things he has done well and what he can do to improve. Jake has bought into that massively.

"We have always been very honest with Chelsea and him, and they appreciate that. They understand how hard it was going to be for him to get into the team. If he does well, he keeps his place - I hold my end of the deal."

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The Verdict

Clarke-Salter is a very good defender and he could be one to watch for the future at Chelsea.

He struggled to make an impact at Birmingham straight away, but he's shown over the past few matches that he's more than capable of making an impact for the Blues in the Championship this season.

It'll be very interesting to see if Chelsea do decide to recall him in January, but now that Marc Roberts is injured, he's got a real opportunity to make an impact and nail down a place in the starting line-up.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.