Gavin Price hopes to secure Greg Morrison on a permanent deal when his Ross County contract expires in the summer.
Elgin City have had Morrison on loan for the season and has been a regular under Price, who has been impressed with how the striker has taken to League 2 football.
Morrison spent the first half of last season on loan at Dumbarton in the Championship but has had a full campaign under his belt at Borough Briggs, which has seen him used out wide and even deputise at right-back.
City boss Price understands Morrison will have a number of options to weigh up come the end of the season but hopes there is a future for him with the black and whites.
He said: “He’s someone we would definitely be interested in keeping here. He’s got a good work-rate and attitude and can play in a variety of positions. It’s never an easy time for a young player being full-time when that option maybe slips away from you and I’m sure Greg will have options.
“It’s a balancing act with what he wants to do in his football life and his personal life. He’s from Keith, so he’s a local guy and the club suits him. We’re hoping there’s a long-term future for him at Elgin.”
Morrison has been joined by Staggies team-mate Ross Maciver at Elgin, who has shown up well in his early outings for the Moray side.
They face the first of a pivotal run of fixtures this afternoon against Clyde, with only a win likely to be enough to keep Elgin in the race for a play-off spot. Clyde have aspirations of their own having clawed their way back into the title picture and travel to Borough Briggs today, before hosting City at Broadwood in 10 days time.
Price is keen to claw points back on Annan, who are 11 clear of his side in the final play-off place, ahead of the two meeting on March 30.
He added: “At this stage of the season every point is so important. We’ve got to have a good match if we’re playing Annan at the end of the month, as we need to close the gap. If we’re going to have a chance of making the play-offs, we’re going go to need results against the top three.
“Annan got good results against Peterhead and Edinburgh City and we’re going to need something similar.”
Price hopes to have Brian Cameron and Matthew Cooper back involved, while Kane Hester is a doubt.