Ipswich Town winger Jack Clarke is hoping that he can kick on after scoring his first goal for the club.

There was a lot of excitement surrounding the 24-year-old when he signed for the Blues over the summer, having had a glittering spell at Championship side Sunderland. However, he hasn’t played as many minutes as he would have hoped and is clearly adapting to what Kieran McKenna wants from him in the Premier League.

However, he did find the back of the net in Sunday’s 3-0 win against Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup, a result that sees Town reach the fourth round of the competition for the third year in a row. Clarke is optimistic that he can build on his performance against the Gas, adding more goals and assists to his game in the top flight.

“I’m happy to get my first goal in an Ipswich shirt and it’s probably one that’s been long overdue,” he said after the match. “I hit the post at Fulham, so I have been getting closer.

The winger is still adapting to a different role at Portman Road (Image: Steve Waller)

“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 too much. As long as you’re doing the right things day in, day out, your luck is going to turn at some point.

“It probably wasn’t a trademark goal – nobody’s going to say it was a brilliant finish or anything like that – but you’ve got to be in the right spot. Today I was and thankfully it hit the back of the net.

“Obviously I’m playing a different role and the demands are a bit different. The league is a lot different too, so I’m trying to learn and impact games as much as possible.

“Sometimes it’s easy to fall back into old habits of what you know naturally and what you’ve been used to doing. The manager and the team demand different things, so I’m always learning and trying to improve every single day.

“Hopefully that’ll take me in the right direction.”