Matt Clarke made his West Bromwich Albion debut in their goalless draw with Watford on Saturday. Clarke was brought on for the final 25 minutes, replacing Dara O’Shea at left-centre-back. Straight away, Clarke was in on the action, reacting quickly to foil an attack from Watford when he cleared a Josh King centre that ran across the face of goal. Clarke picked up the game’s second booking when he stopped Watford in their tracks – think of a ‘tactical’ foul, and you’re not wrong. The 24-year-old also headed away a corner and nipped in to poke a loose ball back to Baggies goalkeeper David Button. Clarke’s game overall is good, and when played on his natural left-hand side, he can be a real asset to Albion this season.
Valerian Ismael said: “There is a reason why we took him because we knew about his quality. He will give us more possibilities in the build-up because he is left-footed. I am very delighted with his adaptation in such a short time. He has only been here for ten days, but it feels like he has been with us since the start of pre-season. He understood quickly the principal, the way to defend, defend forward and play with courage and I think it was a great performance.”
Clarke was one of a few players doing exercises post-match, mainly with free weights.
Valerian Ismael said: “We will see, we have two weeks now. We have a great squad, especially in the centre-back position we have high quality. We need every player, and this is a great thing for me now the players are giving me the problem that I need to pick the right players. But we need every player, the centre-backs we have got they will play games all season, so the good thing is with the left foot we have more possibilities.”
