Jack Clarke has admitted following his Spurs debut against LASK on Thursday that he has been waiting for to run out in a Tottenham shirt for quite some time.
The winger had an extremely disappointing season last time out after joining the North Londoners as he failed to get much game time under his belt in either of his loan spells at Leeds or QPR.
Many would have expected the teenager to be loaned out again this season and the youngster was reportedly a target for the likes of Birmingham City (Birmingham Mail).
However, Clarke ended up staying at Spurs, with Football.London reporting earlier this month that the club had rebuffed several loan offers for the wide man and that Jose Mourinho had been impressed with him in training.
The Spurs boss rewarded the youngster by bringing him on for Carlos Vinicius in the dying moments of the game on Thursday and Clarke admitted that it was a special moment for him.
He told the club’s official website: “It’s a moment that I’ve been waiting for, something that I’ve been working towards and I’m just happy that the manager showed faith in me and put me on the pitch.
“When you’ve got a manager who has worked with some of the top players in the world, for him to show faith in me, it’s just a massive push for me and it makes me feel like I want to do better and improve every day.
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“Ultimately, every minute counts in football – it wouldn’t matter if I’d played the full game or a few minutes, it’s still a special moment for me.”
The 19-year-old had an opportunity to make his debut a fairytale as he had a late chance to score Tottenham’s fourth but he fired wide.
When asked about the chance in added time, he said: “I saw my name in lights in the end… it would have been a perfect moment, the cherry on top of the cake if that makes sense, but I’m still delighted with coming on and playing a part.
“Things have definitely been moving fast since pre-season but I just take it day by day, don’t get ahead of myself and just try to do my best every single day.”
When asked about turning out in a European competition for the first time, Clarke said: “It’s where some of the best players in the world play and it’s a competition that we’re looking to win this year.
“Under the lights, it really is something special. Obviously, if there were fans allowed to come in it would make it even more special but the stadium in itself is top and just to play a little part in the journey that we’re going to go on this season already is a massive moment for me and something I can build on.
“Any opportunity I get, whether it’s in the Europa League or any competition where I’m called upon, I just need to make sure I’m ready to give everything.”
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