FORMER Reds ace Michael Symes believes Accrington Stanley are providing the perfect springboard for Jayden Stockley’s career - just as they did for him two years ago.

Symes earned a move to League One side Bournemouth, only a year after being released by League Two club Shrewsbury, by scoring 19 goals for Stanley during the 2009/10 campaign.

His friend and Bournemouth team-mate Stockley recently joined Stanley on loan and the 18-year-old scored his first Football League goal in last weekend’s draw at Macclesfield.

The Reds are now hoping to extend Stockley’s temporary stay beyond this afternoon’s League Two home match against Dagenham and Red-bridge and Symes is confident that the time the young striker is spending at Stanley with manage-ment duo John Coleman and Jimmy Bell will prove hugely beneficial.

“I’ve spoken to him a couple of times and he’s enjoying it there,” Symes, 28, told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“I was speaking to him a few weeks ago and I said that if he was going to go on loan anywhere he should go to Accrington.

“It was funny really because only later that day I got a text from Jimmy (Bell) saying they were interested in him.

“It was one of the best years of my footballing life at Accrington. It’s a great place to play, the atmosphere is better than some of the places you go to in our league where there’s treble the crowd.

“He’s 18 so he’s a lot younger than when I went there but what he’s getting is what I needed when I went there, which was regular games. I wasn’t playing at Shrewsbury before that.

“The club gave me a chance and I scored goals for them and got a move to Bournemouth, so it was win-win and it’s the same for him now.

“John and Jimmy know how to get the best out of players and if he does well at Accrington then maybe clubs even bigger than Bournemouth will be looking at him.

“He’s a similar build to me but he’s probably better at attacking the ball with his head than I am.

“He’s got a big future. A couple of years ago there were Premier League clubs looking at him in reserve games. He had a couple of injuries after that but he can play at as high a level as he wants.”

Symes joined Bournemouth on a Bosman free transfer in the summer of 2010 and scored eight goals last term as the Cherries reached the League One play-offs.

“I had a few niggling injuries last season but when I played I scored goals,” he said.

“I had another injury this season but I’ve been back fit now for six weeks.

“It was a shame we didn’t make the play-offs when I was at Accrington, I watched their play-off games last year and the result was disappointing obviously but John and Jimmy have done a great job.

“I always look out for their results. I still love the club.”