The 2006-07 season ended on a sour note for the talented midfielder, who sustained a broken ankle in a 5-1 win over Huddersfield in March.

But having worked hard over the close season to regain full fitness, Clingan is keen to make up for lost time - both at club and international level, where he had established himself in the Northern Ireland line-up under Lawrie Sanchez.

Nigel Worthington replaced Sanchez at the Irish helm during Clingan's injury lay-off and the Forest man is desperately keen to show his country's new boss what he's capable of.

He joined Forest from Wolves in January 2006 for a nominal fee - less than a month after producing an eye-catching display for loan club Chesterfield against Forest at The City Ground.

He failed to break into the Wolves first team, despite being held in high regard at Molineux, but saw his career gather pace during two loan spells with Chesterfield.