KENNY Coleman admits he is playing for his footballing future at Wolverhampton Wanderers in his season-long loan deal at Kidderminster Harriers.

The 20-year-old's contract is up in the summer at Molineux where he has been confined to reserves football so far.

But Coleman hopes to persuade Wolves boss Dave Jones that he is capable of following in the first-team footsteps of Mark Clyde and John Melligan.

He said: "This is my last year at Wolves and I'm really playing for a contract.

"It's been a massive adjustment at Kidderminster from playing reserve-team football.

"For one thing, you're playing every Saturday and midweek whereas in the reserves you play every fortnight.

"It's much quicker and much more physical as well but I'm loving every minute of it."

Defender Coleman, who can play at right-back or centre-half, has cemented a place in Harriers' young back-three.

But the young Irishman has seen his temporary team-mates stutter at home, while continuing their strong run on the road.

Coleman added: "After losing to Rushden, we are relying on going away to Darlington and trying to get three points. It's a big ask to keep doing it.

"We can match any team in this division and we have shown that.

"It's a question of sorting out our home form and picking up valuable points at home. We are creating chances but just not putting them away.

"However, there's no reason why we can't put a run together. We have got 22 games to go and are only three points off seventh place so we're not badly placed."

Harriers' three-match unbeaten run came to an end with the 2-0 defeat against Rushden and Diamonds which boss Ian Britton felt was deserved.

Britton said: "A lot of people might say we should have got something out of Saturday's game. I would say 'no'.

"I'll put my hand on heart and say if we had scored a couple of goals I still don't know if we would have gone on and won the game anyway.

"I think in the end Rushden deserved it. I have said before when we have played them, they have players who do the right thing at the right times. When it absolutely matters, we don't do it.

"We had six or seven attempts at goal and they had two and scored from both.

"They knew they were going to get a hard game and for half-an-hour we battered them. If we had got the goals at the right time then we could have gone on and won it."