Jack Clarke breaks silence on poor Ipswich Town form with veiled nod to Tony Mowbray at Sunderland

Jack Clarke opened up his account for Ipswich Town in the FA Cup on Sunday, netting in the 3-0 win over Bristol Rovers in news that went down very well with Sunderland fans.

Sunderland supporters still keep a close eye on Jack Clarke and how he’s getting on at Ipswich Town. And despite what’s been an overall quite poor start to life at Portman Road, Clarke has score his first Ipswich Town goal and could have the confidence to score in the Premier League.

He netted in his side’s 3-0 in over Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup. Meanwhile, Sunderland lost 2-1 against Stoke City in their FA Cup third round game, losing to the Potters in extra time.

But Regis Le Bris and his players can now focus on Championship promotion. Ipswich however have the chance at an FA Cup run, though Kieran McKenna’s focus may well be on the Premier League with his side in 18th right now.

McKenna will be hoping that he’s finally solved the Clarke puzzle with a positional change for the 24-year-old, and a confidence-booster after scoring his first goal. If he has, then he and Clarke may have a certain Tony Mowbray to thank for laying the foundations.

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Jack Clarke’s veiled nod to Tony Mowbray at Sunderland

Speaking to East Anglian Daily Times after netting his first goal for Ipswich Town, Clarke spoke about how he’s not been worried by his lack of goals, and how he’s confident his luck will change so long as he’s ‘doing the right things’.

Clarke said: “That one felt nice and hopefully I can give myself a bit of momentum going into the next few games. I never try and think about it [poor form] too much. As long as you’re doing the right things day in, day out, your luck is going to turn at some point.”

And it echoes comments that he made back in 2023 when discussing his fine form at Sunderland under then manager Mowbray. Speaking in an exclusive Sky Sports interview, he said: “I think he [Mowbray] identified what our strengths are as a squad.

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“We worked a lot on what we are good at and what will help in certain games. Getting the ball in the right areas, doing the right things at the right time.

“I’m going out there every week and trying my best. Sometimes things come off, and sometimes they don’t. To experiment, and enjoy playing football. He gives you that platform.”

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Tony Mowbray gave Jack Clarke a platform, now Kieran McKenna must do the same

In that same interview with Sky, Clarke also spoke about how Mowbray suited him perfectly as a player, because Mowbray allowed him ‘freedom’ to play and attack.

Clarke said: “For a young attacking player he gives you the freedom to express yourself, and that’s all I want to do.” At times for Ipswich though, Clarke has found himself quite deep, arguably because Ipswich are often penned back going up against much stronger opposition in the Premier League.

But McKenna has deployed Clarke in a new role. The Ipswich boss describes it as an ‘up right 10 role’ and in the game against Bristol Rovers, the highlights clearly show Clarke being much further up the pitch and closer to the opposition box, which is where he was most dangerous for Sunderland.

Clarke clearly learned a great deal at Sunderland under Mowbray. It’ll serve him well in the Premier League, but he and McKenna need to keep on experimenting, as Mowbray did at Sunderland, to finally unlock the winger’s huge potential.

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