Jack Clarke made the perfect start to life after Tottenham by scoring within 12 minutes of his full Sunderland debut.
Clarke joined the Black Cats this summer on a permanent deal after a loan spell in the second half of last term. He made 20 appearances as Alex Neil's side successfully manoeuvred the League One play-offs to escape the third tier after four years. The move to the Stadium of Light brought down the curtain on a strange three years at Spurs for the 21-year-old.
His early goal, an unlikely header, gave Sunderland the lead against Coventry on Sunday but Viktor Gyokeres hit a superb equaliser to ensure spoils were shared on Wearside in an entertaining 1-1 draw played in front of more than 40,000 fans.
Clarke said: "In all, I think we did well for our first game back in the Championship - obviously, we wanted all three points but we'll take a point in the end. We've missed the fans during pre-season, not being able to play in front of our home crowd. We enjoyed having them here on Sunday. They were different class again, and we'll need them all season."
The strike was only the fourth of Clarke's professional career and he says Neil and the coaching staff have been at him over the summer to try and add goals to his game.
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Speaking ahead of the long trip to Bristol City next weekend, Clarke said: "It felt good to get off the mark. I feel that I need to add more goals and assists to my game. I managed to get a goal on Sunday and hopefully I can build on that. I think they all want that from me to be honest. They’ve been nagging all pre-season about getting in at the back post so thankfully I managed to stick one away.
"As a team hopefully we can build on the point and take it into next weekend. It will be another tough test. Another different type of test but we’ll rest and recover and hopefully the boys are in good spirits to go again next week."
The transfer to Sunderland brought to an end one of the oddest moves in Tottenham's recent history, with Clarke having made a grand total of just four appearances for Spurs. He never played a single minute in the Premier League and was restricted to just the odd game in cup competitions.
Speaking after his return was confirmed, Neil said: "Jack is a player with huge potential. We had him last season and I think he grew stronger and stronger as the season went on, but the most important thing for him is that he’s now our player. He has obviously got quality, but what he needed to do was find a home and we have managed to provide that. Jack enjoys it here and for us, we are pleased to have the deal across the line as it adds another attacking option."
