Sunderland's Jack Clarke celebrates his goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sunderland and Norwich City at the Stadium Of Light, Sunderland on Saturday 28th October 2023. (Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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.
