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Jack Clarke on scoring a ‘long overdue’ first Ipswich Town goal and the importance of progressing in the FA Cup after sweeping aside Bristol Rovers




Jack Clarke hopes breaking his Ipswich Town duck with a ‘trademark goal’ against Bristol Rovers can give his game some momentum going into three tough Premier League fixtures, starting with the visit of Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday (7.30pm, TNT Sports).

The 24-year-old winger proved to be in the right place to slide home a blocked Ali Al-Hamadi effort from six yards out to double his side’s lead midway through the first half of yesterday’s Emirates FA Cup third round tie against the League One outfit at Portman Road.

It came either side of strikes from Kalvin Phillips - also his first for the Suffolk club - and Jack Taylor to send them into the interval with a commanding 3-0 lead that was how the scoreboard remained at full time to ensure a fourth straight appearance in the fourth round for the Blues, who will travel to Championship side Coventry City.

Jack Clarke scores his first Ipswich Town goal on his 18th appearance with a sliding finish against Bristol Rovers Picture: Barry Goodwin
Jack Clarke scores his first Ipswich Town goal on his 18th appearance with a sliding finish against Bristol Rovers Picture: Barry Goodwin

“Yes, I'm happy to get my first goal obviously in an ipswich shirt and it's probably one that's been long overdue.

“I hit the post at Fulham so I have been getting closer but that one felt nice and hopefully I can give myself a bit of momentum going into the next few games.”

Asked if it had been playing on his mind, coming in the summer arrival from Sunderland’s 18th appearance in all competitions, he said: “I never try to think about it too much. As long as you're doing the right things day in, day out, your luck's going to turn at some point and it's probably a trademark goal.

Jack Clarke (47) celebrates his first Ipswich Town goal with Massimo Luongo Picture: Barry Goodwin
Jack Clarke (47) celebrates his first Ipswich Town goal with Massimo Luongo Picture: Barry Goodwin

“I won't let anybody say it was a brilliant finish or anything like that but you've got to be in the right spot and today I was and thankfully hit the back of the net.”

The Tractor Boys’ victory - only their second at Portman Road in 11 fixtures this season - saw them avoid slipping on an FA Cup banana skin like they did last season in the fourth round with a 2-1 defeat to non-league Maidstone United.

Clarke said: “We obviously knew what we wanted to do. We wanted to get into the next round of the cup and we knew we needed to be disciplined in terms of our performance, take the game seriously and we did all of those things.

“We put them to the sword a little bit in the first half by taking our chances and that obviously gave us a nice cushion going into the second half.

“We just said (at half-time) we needed to be disciplined and see the game out and that's what we did.”

The game against The Gas saw Clarke get only his fifth start in 18 appearances for Town, since his August move from Championship Sunderland for a reported £15 million fee.

And although there were elements he was happy with about his performance he admitted to being his own biggest critic.

Jack Clarke holds off his marker in the 3-0 FA Cup victory against League One Bristol Rovers at Portman Road Picture: Barry Goodwin
Jack Clarke holds off his marker in the 3-0 FA Cup victory against League One Bristol Rovers at Portman Road Picture: Barry Goodwin

“I’m always happy to start when I'm called upon. I thought it was okay with a few nice moments,” he said.

“I always try to do as much as I can when I'm playing. I'm not fully satisfied. I'd say I'm my harshest critic as you always want to feel like you can do more.

Conor Townsend and Jack Clarke linked up well down the left-hand side Picture: Barry Goodwin
Conor Townsend and Jack Clarke linked up well down the left-hand side Picture: Barry Goodwin

“You always think back to a few moments during the game where you feel like you should have done this, should have done that and that's probably what I'll ponder on for the next hour or so and then move on to the next game.”

Put to him that it must be hard to find a rhythm when not starting game regularly, he said: “Yes, it's always difficult but you've just got to be ready like a lot of the boys were today.

“We got called upon to play in this game and in the cup and we still knew we had to deliver a performance and that's what we did.”

On how he has found adapting to the intensity and different requirements in his systems under Kieran McKenna, he said: “Obviously I'm playing a different role (to Sunderland) and the demands are a little bit different.

“Obviously the league is a lot different and stuff like that. Like I said (previously), I’m trying to learn and impact the games as much as possible and sometimes it's easy to fall back into old habits in terms of what you know naturally and what you've been used to doing. And obviously the manager and the team demand different things, the league demands different things. So I'm always learning, trying to improve every single day and hopefully that'll take me in the right direction”.

On backing himself to find his feet and flourish as a Premier League player, he said: “I'd like to think so. I think myself and the team have shown a lot this season already and probably proved a lot of people wrong in terms of those who doubted us before the season started that we do belong in the Premier League and we do have more than an outside probability to pick up points and put in performances.”

Town will head into Thursday’s return to Premier League action against 10th-placed Brighton & Hove Albion (7.30pm, TNT Sports) off the back of three positive results: a 2-0 home win against Chelsea followed by a 2-2 draw away at top-half Fulham ahead of the comfortable cup win. And Clarke is hoping it can stand them in good stead with champions Manchester City and leaders Liverpool also on the horizon to complete the next trio of games.

Jack Clarke speaks to the media following scoring his first goal for Ipswich Town, coming on his 18th appearance (6 starts) in the FA Cup tie against Bristol Rovers Picture: Russell Claydon
Jack Clarke speaks to the media following scoring his first goal for Ipswich Town, coming on his 18th appearance (6 starts) in the FA Cup tie against Bristol Rovers Picture: Russell Claydon

“It's small steps taking us into obviously three tough games and if we can take a bit of every

single game and put them into the next three, hopefully we'll be able to pick up points across

the next three,” he said.

After the Blues host basement side Southampton on February 1, attention will then turn back to the FA Cup with yesterday’s fourth round draw sending them to Frank Lampard’s current 16th-placed Championship outfit Coventry City looking to progress further on the road to Wembley.

Read more: Boss McKenna on a ‘really good performance’

“I think all teams want to progress in the FA Cup,” said Clarke. “It's a competition everybody likes to play in.

“You're never going to turn down playing more football and I think that's what everybody wants to do, especially when you've got big squads.

“People want to be playing and the longer we're in the FA Cup, the more games we've got and it helps everybody out.”