Jack Clarke made his first Ipswich Town appearance since leaving Sunderland last night.
The winger completed a £15 million move to Suffolk over the weekend, though his debut in the Carabao Cup may have gone under the radar for Sunderland supporters.
Clarke is likely to make his Premier League debut against Fulham this weekend, but was handed his first start as they travelled to AFC Wimbledon in the Cup second round.
It was a strange sight as the 23-year-old lined up in the purple, navy and gold of the Tractor Boys’ away kit, playing alongside further new additions in the likes of Kalvin Phillips and Chiedozie Ogbene.
Clarke makes his mark on Ipswich Town debut
Clarke is used to wowing in the Championship and so it came as no surprise that he was able to impress against League Two opposition.
However, The forward was only awarded a 7.1 rating by sofascore – the sixth highest rating for Ipswich.
Despite that, Clarke’s stats were fairly impressive. He had the highest passing accuracy out of any starting player on the pitch (96%), he had 61 touches, completed one cross, had one shot on target, completed two successful dribbles, won 66% of his ground duels and picked up two free-kicks.
Clarke appeared to do exactly what Sunderland fans had loved over the past couple of years, but was only missing out on his trademark goal on his right foot.
The attacker was substituted before 80 minutes had passed, and while sofascore didn’t regard him as the man of the match, East Anglian Daily Times definitely did.
The newspaper still awarded him a 7 rating, but was believed to be the best of the lot as Ipswich were beaten on penalties.
Journalist Alex Jones wrote: “A strong debut. Clever movement, loved being on the ball and relished when he had chances to take his man on.
“Ultimately just missed that final pass or killer shot to really help Town in the attacking third. Wimbledon’s right-back was immense throughout the game. 7 (Man of the Match)”.
Ex-Sunderland star will make Premier League debut this weekend
Clarke was only up against a League Two side, so it is still very hard for Ipswich fans to make their verdict on their new signing.
Sunderland supporters won’t be surprised at all that he did impress in the Carabao Cup, though missing that ‘killer shot’ is definitely not something that went amiss very often in red and white.
The Black Cats will be desperate for Clarke to succeed in the top flight, but he won’t be able to show the league what he is made of until the weekend.
Ipswich face the likes of Southampton, West Ham and Everton in the next six matches, so Clarke will be eager to put his talents on display to earn himself a spot in the starting line-up.