Town defender Harry Clarke has said the team’s impressive start to the new season, sitting third in the Championship after five wins from their opening six fixtures, hasn’t really surprised him.
The Blues have only lost once, 4-3 at home to Leeds in a game that might have gone either way, and their latest success in beating Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at Hillsborough at the weekend, sees them travel to face Southampton tonight full of confidence.
Asked if he expected to make such a terrific start to the current campaign, 22-year-old Clarke said: "I think with the club and the manager, plus the team we are now, we went into the season full of confidence that we could do well. I think we have a special group and I don’t there are any limits to what we can achieve.
"It has been an incredible start and in terms of what I expected we would do, it’s difficult to say exactly what I thought, but we are delighted with the way things have gone so far. We were determined to play well and doing that has earned us some excellent results.
"We’ve been brilliant, to be fair. We don’t really take much interest in the league table and what position we are in. We just take it step by step and we’ve got another big one tonight at Southampton.
"It’s going to be a tough game because they’re a side that played in the Premier League last season, but we’ll be going there trying to win and hopefully we can get the three points.”
Clarke, who cost an estimated £1 million when he returned to Portman Road from Arsenal back in January, was absent from the opening-day win at Sunderland as he was suspended but anyway had an achilles injury. However, he has returned to full fitness and clocked up four Championship appearances, the first as a substitute at QPR and then as a member of the starting line-up against Leeds, Cardiff and the Owls on Saturday.
He added: "Personally, I got injured at the wrong time, towards the end of our pre-season preparations. I had it all last season and I was hoping that the break we had before the new season was due to get under way would calm it down.
"But it didn’t in the end and I had to miss a decent chunk of pre-season training, which obviously slowed me down. But I feel really good at the minute, back to full fitness, feeling sharp and it’s great to be back. That injury is definitely behind me now.”
Reflecting on the performance against a Sheffield Wednesday side who have banked just one point from a possible 18 since being promoted from League One via the play-offs last season, Clarke said: "It was a tight game. I think we recognised how we could have killed the game off earlier on.
"The boys dug in, especially defensively, late in the game to deal with the long balls and the direct play from them, and got the clean sheet plus the three points.
"The ability to see games out is important and I think it’s a mixture of the culture and mindset we have at the club and the confidence that the boys have in each other, plus what the manager sets out to prepare us.
"We work a lot on togetherness and backing each other up, like when one of us gets beaten we’re making sure there’s someone ready to cover. The boys have been brilliant this season – they keep putting their hearts on the line and we’re doing well.”
Clarke was close to grabbing his first Town goal at Hillsborough soon after the restart. Nathan Broadhead sent over a corner and the defender’s header looked to be heading into the far corner before Colombian goalkeeper Devis Vasquez, on loan from AC Milan, reacted brilliantly and make a magnificent save to keep the ball out.
"I started running off because I was convinced it was going in,” said Clarke. "I really did think I’d scored but to be fair I’ve watched it back and their keeper made a world-class save.
"It was nice to be up there in the box because normally I’m on the edge of the area. Hopefully my first goal for the club is coming soon.”
Asked if he had a celebration ready for when he does break his duck, the player added: "I don’t have a clue what I would do by way of a celebration because I have nothing planned at the moment. I’m not really one to plan celebrations but I do want to score.
"I’m not too fussed because the boys are winning and I’ll take that before any personal glory. It’s winning and getting the three points that matters more than anything. If we carry on winning, I would take that all day long, even if it means I’m still waiting to get that first goal.”