Town winger Jack Clarke admitted he does not mind the ‘super-sub’ tag after his heroics off the bench earned the Blues a vital 1-0 victory against West Bromwich Albion at Portman Road.

Clarke struck for the fifth time this season to move level with Jaden Philogene as Town’s top scorer, yet four of those goals have come off the bench.

The latest one was an 83rd-minute winner against the Baggies, pouncing to slam home after Iván Azón’s initial effort was saved.

“Everybody wants to be starting games and trying to contribute as much as they can,” Clarke said. “But it’s not the worst label to have, I’ve had worse so that’s not a bad one!

“It’s just about putting yourself in the right place at the right time, hoping it falls and keeping a calm head.

“For us, it doesn’t matter who is scoring the goals, it’s about results at the end of the day. That one was a big one today.

“Sometimes it is easier coming on as a sub, the game opens up. Nobody really wants to draw, everybody wants to win the game so it opens up and the opportunities come, it’s just about hopefully one falling for you.

“Thankfully when I’ve been coming off the bench, they’ve been falling for me. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t, we could be having a different conversation in a few weeks if they’re not falling for us but for now it’s nice.”

Town came into the Baggies clash having lost their previous two games, including a deflating 3-0 home defeat to Charlton Athletic on Tuesday.

Asked whether the result in midweek increased the pressure on the Blues, Clarke said: “Possibly, just what we put on ourselves.

“We know we can be better, we’re still not perfect and we’re trying to get to a point where we are playing good football that everybody wants to come and watch. We know we’re not there yet, but we’re trying.

“It was a big win based on the week that we’ve had. The boss is big on not getting too carried away with the league table and stuff like that because it can change so quickly in this league.

“We knew we’d not played our best stuff in the last couple of games. We didn’t think we’d been bad, but we’d had 10 to 15-minute blips in each game where we let it get away from us.

“It was about staying in the game, giving ourselves a platform and taking the opportunity when it came.”

Alongside Philogene, Clarke has been one of Town’s standout performers so far this season and has subsequently earned praise from a large number of Blues fans.

That support has not gone unnoticed, with the 24-year-old grateful for how the Blue Army have supported him, even during more challenging times in the Premier League last season.

He said: “Even last year when it was difficult, I think the fans were always brilliant and stuck by us. Even when we weren’t winning games and have had dips this season, they’ve always been with us so you always feel that love.

“It’s easier when you’re doing well and you’re contributing to how the team is doing. It’s nice that I'm finally doing that.

“The fans have always been brilliant and they’ve always supported me and everybody else. It’s nice when you’re doing well.”

Jack Taylor was also widely praised for his performance against the Baggies, the midfielder starting a league game for the first time since August.

“We’ve got a brilliant squad and JT’s part of that,” Clarke said. “He’s a fantastic player and everybody knows what he’s capable of when he gets the opportunities to play.

“He got an opportunity today and I think he took it with both hands and was really good. Hopefully he can build on that.”

Following a fourth win of the campaign, the Blues are 12th in the Championship table after 11 matches, holding a game in hand on all of the sides around them.

On the overall picture, Clarke said: “I don’t actually know where we are in the table, but I think we can definitely be better.

“There’s a few points that we feel like we’ve left out there in a few games that we’ve let slip by, Tuesday night being a good example of that. As long as we keep putting in performances and picking up points, I’m sure we’ll be in a better state for it.”

Photo: TWTD

Vancouver_Blue added 16:52 - Oct 25 It's difficult for KMcK to play both Jaden & Jack Clarke, but what a nice problem to have. As soon as Wes is back hopefully he will do the business on the right
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grow_our_own added 17:25 - Oct 25 Try Clarke as central #10. Philogene - Clarke - Egeli. Mick Mills talks sense.
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Dubchief added 18:57 - Oct 25 That lad has done well this season, we are lucky to have him and philogene. Jaden is the best starter I still think and Clarke is 100% the best to have on the pitch at the end of games, his clinical and we need that calmness that cool head that he has to get the points late in games. Azon is fantastic too, he likes putting his shots just close enough to a keeper to set up Clarke for the rebound, it’s all a plan between the two of them :) Egeli will start scoring for us soon too, he is one of our best at breaking the lines and charging forward on the counter attack he had a couple of good moments today when the ball was in transition and set up some big chances for them, shame he didn’t keep his own efforts on target though but it will come.

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