Jack Clarke has started Ipswich Town's last two Premier League games. (Image: Ross Halls)
Jack Clarke has started Ipswich Town's last two Premier League games. (Image: Ross Halls)
Ipswich Town winger Jack Clarke has started the last two Premier League games. Stuart Watson spoke to him about form, playing partners and competition for places...
Rewind to last October and former Blues boss Kieran McKenna had this to say about Jack Clarke.
"I've spoken with him. He's already shown that he can be a really good player in the Championship. What we want him to be, what we believe he can be, what he wants to be is a really good Premier League player."
The fleet-footed winger went on to finish the campaign as the 16-goal top scorer in an Ipswich Town team that secured promotion back to the top flight.
His numbers in the second-tier speak for themselves - a total of 43 goals and 23 assists across 176 games for Ipswich, Sunderland, Stoke and Leeds. So, is it now time for the man who never quite made the breakthrough at Tottenham to shine on the big stage?
"I appreciate getting called a Championship star, but I wouldn't even consider myself one of them, to be honest," says the 25-year-old, modestly.
"I just take every day, every game as it comes and try to give the best version of myself.
"I don't ever want to feel like I'm in a position of comfort, because I think that's when you stop wanting to learn and stop wanting to achieve and stop wanting to get better.
"I feel like I'm in a good spot at the minute and hopefully I can still keep improving."
Jack Clarke celebrates following his last minute winner against Sunderland. (Image: Ross Halls)
Ipswich paid £15m to sign Clarke from Sunderland late in the summer transfer window of 2024. He went on to make 12 starts and 20 sub appearances in his debut Premier League campaign, failing to score but contributing four assists.
"You learn from experience," he says, looking back on a season in which Town won just four times and finished second bottom with 22 points.
"It was just the unknown for a lot of us last time. A lot of us were making the step up at the same time. We learned how ruthless the league was.
"Obviously the new manager(Gary O'Neil) has a lot of experience within the league. Some of the new players do, too. We can all draw on that."
Clarke's coolly-taken last minute match winner off the bench against Sunderland saw him grab the headlines on the opening weekend. His form and attitude was rewarded with subsequent starts at Crystal Palace and Everton prior to the current international break.
On that goal against the Black Cats, a club where he was adored for two-and-a-half seasons, Clarke reflects: "Even now thinking back to it, it's hard to say how I feel really. I still hold a soft spot for Sunderland, they're a club that took me in when I was a bit lost on my journey. I don't know... it's just the nature of the game really.
"Thinking back now, it felt like it was sort of inevitable that something was going to happen. But I'm an Ipswich player now. Obviously somebody had to score, somebody had to win, and thankfully it was me."
He adds: "Last time around in the Premier League, I didn't manage to score, so to get one early was a nice feeling - just a bit more relief than anything else. But I think I've said it before, if I had to go a full season without scoring for us to do well and achieve something, then I'm happy to do that. I think the team always comes first."
Jaden Philogene returned from injury at Selhurst Park on Saturday
The fit-again Jaden Philogene is one of three good left wing options for Gary O'Neil. (Image: Ross Halls)
Clarke shared left wing minutes with Jaden Philogene throughout last season's Championship promotion campaign, the latter bagging 13 goals himself. After a summer of speculation over a possible exit, Philogene remains and has just returned from a pre-season injury, stepping off the bench in the last two league games. Also vying for minutes on that side is £8m summer signing Daizen Maeda, the hard-working Japanese international having started against Sunderland, Manchester United and Liverpool.
"Obviously we've signed a lot of players and everybody we've brought in has got quality," said Clarke. "So it's just about doing the best you can when called upon. I'm sure everybody will get an opportunity throughout the season and we'll need everybody to play a part at some point. It's about always being ready to give the best version of you when you can."
Jack Clarke says he hopes he can keep helping the Blues, wherever he's needed (Image: PA)
Eight of Clarke's 17 goals for Ipswich have been bagged off the bench and, while the winger has joked 'there are worse things to be called than super sub', he's clearly hoping for more minutes as a starter.
Having got the nod for the last two, he says: "I don't know about it being my position to lose now. I just think it's my chance at the minute and hopefully I can keep playing well and keep helping the team.
"But like I said earlier, I think it's going to take everybody this season at some point. So, just when you get the opportunity, just trying to do as much as you can for the team.
"We all try and drive each other every day so that when it comes to the game we can all expect the best version of each other. Most of the time I'm playing against the right-back in training. I'm trying to get the better of them, they're trying to get the better of me and we're just trying to bring the best versions out of each other."
Jack Clarke (right), pictured in Carabao Cup action against Arsenal.
(Image: Ross Halls)
Clarke has been trialled on the right and as a No.10 during his time at Town, playing centrally for a spell in the early season Carabao Cup win against Leicester.
"Honestly, I don't know if I'd give the best version of myself everywhere, but I'd play wherever the manager wants me to play at any given opportunity," he insists. "Obviously, I feel a lot more comfortable on the left - I assume he (O'Neil) does as well, I'm not sure - but if I got asked to play on the right at any point, or anywhere else, I'd try and do that for the team."
Daizen Maeda is also competing with Clarke for minutes
(Image: Ross Halls)
It was Clarke who drew the lunging challenge that saw Crystal Palace defender Axel Disasi dismissed in Town's 3-2 win at Selhurst Park last month. On being a foul magnet due to his close ball control, he laughed: "You sort of get used to it. Some tackles are obviously worse than others. When you get kicked so much, there is an art to falling certain ways so it hurts a little bit less. I wouldn't say it's the best part of the job, but it comes with the territory of being an attacking player who wants to be on the ball!"
Barring injuries or suspensions, the player who will be backing up the left-winger throughout this season will be Leif Davis. Town's long-serving left-back has made a fine start to this campaign, already contributing two goals and an assist.
Asked if he's had to adapt his game to get the best out of Davis, Clarke replies: "No, I wouldn't say it's anything that's been specifically prescribed. Obviously I've played with Leif for a long, long time [they were also team-mates at Leeds]. I know about what his strengths are, what his qualities are and what he can bring to a team.
Leif Davis has made a strong start to the season at left-back.
(Image: Ross Halls)
"When I get the opportunity to play with him I'm trying to do the best I can, but also play to his strengths. We know what the other person wants to do and it comes quite natural to us."
And on his developing relationship with Brazilian striker Emersonn, who arrived for a club-record fee from Toulouse this summer, Clarke says: "I think he's done really well in the games he's played in so far. He's a big boy. He causes a lot of problems for defenders. He's certainly got an eye for goal. He's got a lot of raw ability.
"It's about nurturing him and bringing out the best of him. He certainly ticks a lot of boxes for what I'd want in front of me . You know what you're going to get from him, he can do both sides of the game and that certainly makes my job a little bit easier."
Brazilian striker Emersonn has made an encouraging start to life in the Premier League. (Image: Steve Waller)
Ahead of Ipswich returning to action with a big home game against early season strugglers Fulham at Portman Road a week on Saturday, Clarke adds: "We beat some good teams in pre-season, it was good to kick start with a win, then we had two difficult fixtures where we probably didn't back it up. Then we went away to Palace and won. We've got to keep picking up points when we feel like we've we've played well. If we do that, let's see where it takes us."