There was only one thing missing from Harry Clarke’s long-awaited Portman Road bow.
“I wish I had topped it off with a goal, but it was a really special night,” he said.
Clarke had around 20 family and friends in the crowd to watch him make his home debut in an Ipswich Town shirt. Many of them had, no doubt, been there every step of the way on a journey which began in the Blues’ academy when he was a young boy.
His route to a first appearance at Portman Road has been an unconventional one. He left Ipswich for the bright lights of Arsenal in 2015 and has since spent loan spells at Oldham, Ross County, Hibernian and Stoke, before coming home for a seven-figure fee at the end of last week.
And it’s fair to say he has made an excellent first impression.
The 21-year-old's Ipswich career began with a brief substitute appearance in the Oxford fog on Saturday, but it is now truly up-and-running after he played a starring role in Town’s 4-0 victory over Morecambe.
“It was special,” he said.
“But the most important thing is we got the win and we got the clean sheet.
“I thought I was going to be in tears, coming out of the tunnel, but I actually wasn’t. But when I saw my nanna and my family up there (in the stands) I did go a little bit before the game.
“I was fully focused on the game and it was really special.”
Town blew Morecambe away in the first half at Portman Road, with Freddie Ladapo scoring inside a minute before adding a second on 16. Conor Chaplin then added two of his own (38 and 45+6), converting twice from inside the box after being picked out by Wes Burns.
MORE: Kieran McKenna's reaction after Ipswich Town's Morecambe win
“We were clinical,” Clarke said. “We put our chances away and could potentially have had a couple more.
“But it was a good first-half. Coming in at half-time the message was to go out there and try to score more goals because, you never know, at the end of the season goal difference might count.
“But we wanted to keep a clean sheet and we did that. They had some early free-kicks and some long throws to try and keep the pressure on us, but to score early was really important.”
Clarke looked comfortable throughout his home debut, showing promising signs as he linked up well with team-mates despite limited time in training since completing his move from Arsenal.
“They gave us a lot of space, especially me down the right side, so we could keep stepping into the game,” he said. “Me and Wes (Burns) linked up well down the right side.
“I kept overlapping him, sometimes letting him go one-v-one, so we linked up really well.
“Chappers (Conor Chaplin) kept dropping outside the line and I had Evo (Lee Evans) inside me and Keysey (Richard Keogh) behind me, keeping me on my toes and switched on.
“He talks well and kept me on my toes.”
Clarke came into the side in place of Janoi Donacien, taking over on the right side of the Town defence.
“When you’ve got the ball it’s a right centre-back,” he said, when asked to describe his role.
“The gaffer has said I can push on and attack, so essentially it’s a right-back really but tucked in. I really enjoyed it.
“At Stoke I was playing right wing-back and a lot of that is playing with back to goal and getting it on the last line, sort of like Wes does, but I had the game in front of me and could step onto the game today, which was good.”
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