Part of a striker's game, to persevere (10)
I believe the answer is:
matchstick
'part of a striker's' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'game to persevere' is the wordplay.
'game' becomes 'match' (eg a football match).
'to persevere' becomes 'stick' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'match'+'stick'='MATCHSTICK'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for matchstick that I've seen before include "sort of model" , "Wooden part of lighter" , "Individual that's struck" , "Long thin piece" , "Very thin, like figures in Lowry paintings" .)