Harry Clarke says his loan spell with Oldham Athletic has been amazing for him, and even better than he expected it to be at the outset.

With so many Arsenal players going on loan this season, it was inevitable that we would get a bit of a mixed bag overall. Some have played regularly, some have had serious injuries, and some didn’t even last until January before being recalled.

Fortunately for Harry Clarke, he’s been one of the players to earn himself a consistent starting role, barring a couple of brief injury setbacks. Reflecting on the campaign with a few games to go, he seemed very pleased how things have played out.

“I think it’s gone amazing, to be honest,” Clarke said. “Much better than I expected. I’ve played over 32 games I think now, so to come here under both managers and improve, and they’ve both shown faith in me, it’s been good.

“The physicality is the main thing really. I’m not the biggest of centre-backs, but at 23s level, I could bully people. Whereas [at Oldham], you play against people who are this (tall) and wide.

“You get to play with Pierg (Carl Piergianni), obviously you learn so much from him. I used to jump in the air and [the opposition would] give little nudges and they’re like “that’s not a foul” and he’s telling me how to deal with that.”

The Oldham Athletic fans certainly seem to have enjoyed the 20-year-old’s displays, calling on him to stay for longer.

Largely playing at centre-back, Clarke has gained experience in both a back four and a back three during the season. He also showed his versatility with an appearance at right-wing-back earlier this week.

Having helped Oldham secure their safety in League Two, Clarke will be trying to help his team push up as high in the table as possible in the final couple of games of his loan.