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Clarke: A Bigger Sense of Excitement Playing at Home
Tuesday, 3rd Dec 2024 06:00 by Kallum Brisset

Town winger Jack Clarke is relishing the prospect of back-to-back matches at Portman Road as the Blues look to end their winless home run this season.

Kieran McKenna’s side are currently 19th in the Premier League and face a visit from 17th-placed Crystal Palace, who are also on nine points and above the Blues only by virtue of goal difference, in a rare midweek clash this evening.

Town then welcome Bournemouth to Suffolk on Sunday afternoon looking to get some positive momentum heading into a comparatively more congested fixture calendar towards Christmas.

Following the Blues’ three-match unbeaten run ending at the hands of Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday, Clarke is looking forward to returning to home soil to face the Eagles.

“You always get a bigger sense of excitement playing at home in front of your own fans because they give you the boost when you need it and they’re always behind you,” he said.

“Not so much here but when you go away you can be drowned out by other fans and it feels a lot harder than what it sometimes should feel. It will be big for us and hopefully we can put on performances that reflect that.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game, they’ve got a lot of individual quality. It’s come around quite quickly so we’ve not had as much time to prep for it as we would have the Forest game the week before.

“In the Premier League you get to watch these teams every single week so you can get a good feel as to what you’re going to be expected to play against. We know it’s going to be a tough game but hopefully we’re just the better team on the night.”

Like the majority of the Town squad, Clarke has played much of his football in recent years in the Football League where three-game weeks are more common. However, he dismissed suggestions that may be an advantage ahead of the busier schedule.

“I’m not sure if it gives us a full advantage,” he said. “It’s a lot more familiar to a lot of boys that have played in the EFL over the last couple of seasons. In terms of the opposition that you play, when you play the bigger teams they’re playing midweeks anyway because they’re playing in Europe.

“Especially at Palace because they’ve had a lot of boys who have come through the EFL system. I wouldn’t say it gives us an advantage but there is a sense of familiarity with it.”

Crystal Palace boast a squad with plenty of Premier League quality and experience including the likes of Marc Guehi and Jean-Philippe Mateta, but Eberechi Eze is a name that jumps off the page.

Asked about his quality, Clarke said: “He’s a top player. I was with him when I was really young a few years back when he was still at QPR. He was someone you tried to emulate a little bit in terms of what he can do with the ball.

“Everybody knows that he’s a really big threat, especially at this level and what he’s gone on to do. He’ll be somebody we’ll have to try and look out for on Tuesday night.

“His journey is obviously something to admire in terms of where he started and where he’s got to now with representing his country and stuff like that. It’s really admirable and it’s something that I’m aspiring to myself.”


Clarke’s professional career began at Leeds United after joining the Whites’ academy at the age of eight. By the time he broke through into the first team in 2018, Leeds were managed by Marcelo Bielsa who was well-known for his ultra intense style of play and training.

“My first season in professional football was under Marcelo so stepping into it I thought everybody was like that and that was the normal thing that happened when you play professional football,” Clarke recalled.

“It was hard not to learn under him, he was so detailed and particular in everything that he wanted on and off the pitch and you had to be like a sponge in taking in whatever he was saying.

“To be fair there wasn’t much room for discussion about what he wanted from his wingers, it was just run as much as possible and the rest of it should take care of itself.”

Clarke left Leeds after just one year in the first team to join Tottenham Hotspur at the age of 18 where he only made four appearances, of which none came in the Premier League.

As a result, the former England U20 international does not feel his move to the Blues during the summer was a second crack at playing in the top flight, instead citing the differences between the two transfers.

He said: “I went to Tottenham when I was very young so it was a different sort of transfer. I think it was one they hoped would materialise with something down the line but for whatever reason it didn’t flourish into anything.

“I don’t really see it as a second chance or a second roll of the dice because I didn’t do as much as what I did this time to get here. I was young and they took a chance on me in terms of what I could be in the future, whereas in the last couple of seasons at Sunderland I feel like I’ve earned the opportunity to be here. It feels a little bit different.”

That move to Sunderland proved to be the one to spark Clarke’s career into life and he acknowledged that the decision to move to Wearside was the right one.

He said: “The next thing for me was to go somewhere where I can play as much as possible and showcase what I can actually do on a weekly basis and it was probably the best thing I could have done.

“I enjoyed my time there and loved every minute of playing for that club and representing that club. I feel like I played some of my best football in my career so far in the past two seasons.”

Having played for Leeds, Sunderland and now Ipswich since leaving London, Clarke has had a habit of joining one-club cities and regions. He says that is pure coincidence but likes the community aspect of joining sides with that luxury.

The 24-year-old said: “Not necessarily it’s just how it’s fell in terms of one-club cities and terrific fanbases. It’s more my agent’s side of things than mine.

“It brings that sense of togetherness in terms of the players in the city. It feels like there’s more of a bond and community factor in terms of there’s only one team to support in that area.

“That reciprocates with the fanbases that those clubs have and the atmospheres you get at the games.”

During his time at Leeds, Clarke played with Kalvin Phillips and Leif Davis. Knowing both has meant it was a little bit easier for the Yorkshireman to settle into the club when he made the switch to Portman Road in August.

“Kalvin and Leif were the main two in terms of who I actually knew before coming to the club,” he said.

“There’s always a sense of familiarity and it makes it feel a little bit more homely when you know a couple of people, especially when you’re moving to the other end of the country. That definitely helped a little bit.”

Speaking further on Davis, Clarke added: “We spent a lot of time together playing U23s and reserve football when we were still at Leeds together. Our journeys took us down different paths then we’ve met together at the same point which is nice.

“I was more of a conventional winger when he first joined and he probably wasn’t getting forward as much as he is now. We had a good relationship back then and hopefully it’s something we can build upon going forward.”

Clarke was also asked about his relationship with current Atalanta and former Norwich City defender Ben Godfrey, who happened to also attend Archbishop Holgate’s School in York.

“Ben was a couple of years above me at school so we never really crossed paths,” Clarke said. “We probably played football outside of school a few times because we were from the same area, but in terms of football pathways we went down different routes.

“He came on trial when he was younger at Leeds which didn’t come to anything for him, but he’s a top player and has done really well for himself.”

Last season, Clarke was part of the Sunderland side that faced Town in the Championship, with both games ending 2-1 to the Blues.

Asked what he learned from McKenna’s side during those meetings, he said it was clear to see the quality that the team possessed and admitted the atmosphere in the Portman Road clash helped him decide to make the move during the summer.

“The intensity that the team plays at was very hard to keep up with last year,” he said. “Also how together the squad was, the qualities they’ve got and what they try, what the strengths are in possession and the formation.

“We’d have prepped for them twice and teams don’t change that much over the course of the season, obviously personnel plays a big factor. They were definitely difficult games both times.

“In the first game they’d just been newly-promoted and I didn’t play against them under the boss the previous season in League One so it was the unknown in terms of what they could be. You’ve heard the names but in terms of how the team functions it was a bit of the unknown.

“The second time around we knew where they were in the league and that was fully justified in terms of how they were playing and the results they were picking up.

“Ipswich had not won in five leading up to that and at that time we were in and around the play-offs with a new manager so it definitely had a bit more feel to it. That was reflected in how the second goal was celebrated.

“Obviously we lost but it was definitely a game that stood out in the season and stuck out as a highlight as one of the bigger games on Sky and stuff like that. It was definitely a selling factor in terms of knowing what you could be walking into.”


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bluelad7 added 19:26 - Dec 3
A player of such potential and one I look forward to seeing grow with us. But I sense from his interview that maybe he was happier at Sunderland? I hope that isn’t the case, it just came across that way.
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