Fleetwood Town’s latest loan star Harry Souttar hoping to emulate Preston North End defender Ben Davies and fight for Stoke City shirt in summer

Fleetwood Town's Harry Souttar gets between Bradford City's Jack Payne (left) & Bradford City's David Ball

The 20-year-old joined Town on loan at the end of last month and was thrown straight in at the deep end.

An injury to Craig Morgan saw Souttar named in the starting XI as Town earned a 1-0 victory against Charlton Athletic.

Souttar’s performance that day saw him retain his spot for the win at Bradford City where Morgan returned to the bench.

Now the 6ft 6in defender is hopeful of emulating another former Town loanee, Ben Davies.

His 26-game loan stint on the left side of a back three helped Town to a fourth-placed finish in the 2016-17 season as well as helping Davies to become a first-team regular at Preston North End.

Souttar hopes history repeats itself as he bids to build on the two back-to-back victories when Fleetwood host Luton Town on Saturday.

He said: “That is what the plan is and that is what the gaffer here wants me to do; come here, get a good number of games under my belt, hopefully play well.

“Then, go back in the summer and try and force a place down there for the Championship next season.”

But did Souttar expect to be thrown straight in to partner Ash Eastham just days after arriving at Highbury?

He said: “No! I came knowing that Morgs the captain and Ash are really good players.

“I came in to fight for a place; to have competition for places is always a positive but I did not think I’d start straight away.

“I knew that Morgs had an injury on the first day because he did not train but I’ve just been happy to keep my place for last weekend.

“Two clean sheets have not done me any harm. If we can keep that up and defend as we have, it is only a positive for me.”

Souttar is relishing learning from Eastham.

The youngster, who has also been on loan at Ross County, hailed Eastham’s leadership skills both on and off the pitch.

He said: “He has been brilliant with me to be fair.

“He is a leader not just on the pitch but off it.

“He is a talker too which as a centre half you want your other centre half to talk to you as much as possible.

“I think we complement each other’s games well and playing alongside him for as many games as I can this season is only going to benefit me and my career.”