Debut delight for Jack Clarke

Jack Clarke is hungry to keep developing his game after the ‘massive push’ of his competitive debut.

The former Leeds United youngster came on in the closing stages of Thursday night’s 3-0 win over LASK for his first competitive appearance in our colours since his summer 2019 arrival from Leeds United.

Loaned back to Leeds and latterly to Queens Park Rangers last season, the winger featured for us in pre-season and scored for the Under-23s in a 2-1 win against Southampton earlier this month before Jose Mourinho turned to him in our Europa League group stage opener at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“It’s a moment that I’ve been waiting for, something that I’ve been working towards and I’m just happy that the manager showed faith in me and put me on the pitch,” said the 19-year-old. “When you’ve got a manager who has worked with some of the top players in the world, for him to show faith in me, it’s just a massive push for me and it makes me feel like I want to do better and improve every day. Ultimately, every minute counts in football – it wouldn’t matter if I’d played the full game or a few minutes, it’s still a special moment for me.”

Replacing fellow debutant Carlos Vinicius, who set up two of our three goals on a successful night all round, Jack might even have marked the occasion by getting himself on the scoresheet, but fired off-target in added time.

“I saw my name in lights in the end… it would have been a perfect moment, the cherry on top of the cake if that makes sense, but I’m still delighted with coming on and playing a part,” he said. “Things have definitely been moving fast since pre-season but I just take it day by day, don’t get ahead of myself and just try to do my best every single day.”

Having played 29 times in the Championship for Leeds and QPR, Thursday also meant a first chance to play in Europe for Jack – something he was thrilled to experience.

“It’s where some of the best players in the world play and it’s a competition that we’re looking to win this year,” he said. “Under the lights it really is something special. Obviously if there were fans allowed to come in it would make it even more special but the stadium in itself is top and just to play a little part in the journey that we’re going to go on this season already is a massive moment for me and something I can build on. Any opportunity I get, whether it’s in the Europa League or any competition where I’m called upon, I just need to make sure I’m ready to give everything.”