Scott Mooney is determined to make himself a big part of Corby Town’s future.

The striker goes into tonight’s Blue Square Bet North clash with Vauxhall Motors looking for his first goal in Steelmen colours.

But he is also looking to earn himself a permanent move to the club for next season.

Mooney arrived at Rockingham Triangle last month along with midfielder Tom Manship from the Steelmen’s league rivals Hyde United.

But while Manship’s move was an immediate permanent transfer, Mooney’s is currently only a loan until the end of the season.

But the striker insists he does not want to return to Hyde as he sees Corby as far better for him and his future.

“I don’t know what has been said between the two clubs with regards to next year but hopefully something can be sorted out so that I can stay at Corby,” he said.

“I definitely feel Corby are the club for me, not least because they are far more local for me because I live in Melton Mowbray.

“So they are much closer and that makes the travelling much easier.

“It’s a good set-up at Corby too and I want to be part of that.”

Mooney has had to wait for his chance to show the Steelmen fans and management what he is all about and start working towards earning that deal for next year.

But with fellow strikers Nathan Jarman, Adam Webster and Ben Mackey all leaving the club in the last two weeks, Mooney has almost been presented with his chance by default.

As it stands, he and Steve Diggin are the only two recognised strikers at the club.

And both now have their chances now to stake their claims for regular football.

“I’ve been itching for my chance ever since I arrived from Hyde and it was hard at first because I just want to play and I wasn’t getting in,” he continued.

“I just need games now to get me back up to match fitness.

“Solihull was only my second 90 minutes in the last six months so I know I am still getting back to my best.

“But once that match sharpness is there, I know I can score goals for Corby because I’m always confident that I can play at this level.”

Mooney hopes hard work will be rewarded with better fortune tonight against Vauxhall than they had at the weekend against Solihull.

“We worked hard against Solihull but we just couldn’t prise them open,” he said.

“They had two chances and took them both while we had a number of half-chances in the second half but the bounce of the ball always seemed to favour them.

“But that’s the difference between being a play-off contender and being in mid-table like we are.

“You have to take your chances when they come, that’s the whole point of the game.

“The main thing is that we learn from Solihull and take that into tonight’s game against Vauxhall who are in mid-table with us and so should be more similar to us.

“We’re still a young side, we’re still learning but we’re also improving all the time and we haven’t played too badly in the last couple of games.

“We got a good draw at Stalybridge, we did not perform badly against a good Solihull side and now we’ve got Vauxhall tonight and it’s a good chance to get a win.”

By John Smith - Corby Evening Telegraph