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When Chelsea decided to loan Jake Clarke-Salter to Birmingham City in the summer, it seemed as if the switch would end up being beneficial for both parties.

Whilst manager Frank Lampard would be giving one the club's academy graduates the opportunity to play regular first-team football elsewhere, Blues would be able to call upon the services of a player who had featured at Championship level before.

Although he was unable to prevent Sunderland from being relegated to League One last year during his temporary spell with the club, Clarke-Salter did illustrate some signs of promise in the second-tier.

Already capped by England at Under-21 level, the defender would have been determined to make a real impact at St Andrew's for Birmingham during the opening months of the season.

However, this unfortunately hasn't been the case as he has been forced to watch on from the sidelines for the majority of the 2019/20 campaign.

After failing to impress on his debut for the Blues in their Carabao Cup defeat to Portsmouth in August, Clarke-Salter had to wait until the club's clash with Wigan Athletic last month for another chance to prove himself to caretaker head coach Pep Clotet.

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Even though he wasn't exactly poor at the DW Stadium, the former Sunderland man was dropped from the starting eleven by the Spaniard after Birmingham were beaten by the Latics.

Since this clash, Clarke-Salter has been an unused substitute in each of the Blues' last five league games with Harlee Dean partnering Marc Roberts in the heart of defence.

However, with Dean set to miss Birmingham's next three league fixtures after being shown a straight red-card in the club's defeat to Cardiff City earlier this month, the Chelsea loanee may be given the nod to start by Clotet.

Providing that he does indeed feature for the Blues against Fulham, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday, it is imperative that he delivers the goods in the Championship.

A failure to step up to the mark may result in Clarke-Salter being cut adrift by Clotet who cannot afford to be carrying any passengers this season.

If the defender cannot transform his fortunes at St Andrew's, it may be beneficial for Chelsea to recall him from his loan spell in January.

Whilst it is fair to say that he isn't ready to play in the Premier League for Lampard's side, Clarke-Salter's development could be aided by a temporary move to a club who are willing to play him week-in, week-out.