He scored 15 goals last season and was comfortably Sunderland's stand-out performer but Jack Clarke still finished the campaign feeling like he could have done 'a lot more' for a side who finished 16th in the Championship.
Being so self-critical and setting such high standards has no doubt helped Clarke become the player he is today but that analysis of last season is also no doubt fuelled by the fact he missed a chunk of the second half of the campaign through an ankle injury.
He returned for the final seven league games but admits the end of the season came at a good time, giving the former Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur winger the chance to rest up and get fully recovered.
The good news for Sunderland is that the ankle is now fine, after the 23-year-old made a scoring return to action from the penalty spot in Saturday's pre-season friendly defeat at Gateshead. And while Clarke isn't yet up to full match-speed, he thinks he will be by the time the start of the Championship season rolls around and Sunderland's trip to Cardiff City on August 10.
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The idea of Clarke improving on last seasons numbers in front of goal is a mouth-watering prospect for Sunderland, but the winger knows that words are cheap and he has to back it up on the pitch.
"I'd like to think I can keep improving and as a team we can keep improving, but they might just be words," said Clarke, who is part of the Sunderland squad that headed for Spain on Monday for their pre-season training camp where they will face fixtures against Nottingham Forest and CD Eldense.
"But you'd like to think I can, and we can, and that's what I'm striving for, so we'll see."
"In a sense [last season was really good] but I still feel like I could have brought a lot more. I'll try to bring a lot more as the season unfolds. There was still a lot of chances I missed and still a lot more I could have done, hopefully I'll bring that this season.
"Thankfully for me the break came at a good time to give my injury a rest and time to heal. Like everyone else, I'm still trying to get up to match speed and fitness and dust off the cobwebs. Hopefully by the time the season starts I'll be back at my best."
Jack Clarke is hoping to improve on last seasons form for Sunderland (Image: Ian Horrocks)
It was two years ago last week that Clarke joined Sunderland after the club turned his loan move from Tottenham into a permanent deal following his contribution towards promotion from League One, and what a signing he's turned out to be.
The winger moved to Wearside looking to get his career back on track after his high-profile move to North London failed to work out, instead resulting in a series of unsuccessful loans. Now, on the back of two standout campaigns in the Championship where he has scored 24 goals and made 15 assists, he is one of the most feared and in-demand forwards in the Championship.
"I feel like I’ve grown [since I joined the club]," he said.
"I feel like I still had a lot of raw ability when I first joined. Playing however many games over the last few seasons you learn different things.
"I don’t think I’m trying to do anything differently now to what I was doing then, but I think just having the confidence to keep trying these things, and obviously the club is in a better place than when I joined in League One.
"There are better players playing alongside me every week. It makes my job a lot easier sometimes."
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Clarke was named Sunderland's player of the year last season and with his form, blistering displays and goals comes transfer interest and uncertainty. The 23-year-old admitted this week he's aware of interest from elsewhere on the back of Lazio failing in their efforts to take him to Italy in January, having also seen approaches from the Premier League rebuffed last summer.
Like a number in the Sunderland squad, however, further bids are expected to be tabled this summer, with Clarke still of interest to Premier League clubs, but the winger insists his only focus is on Sunderland and the coming season, though he's never been one for setting individual targets.
"I just take it as it comes to be honest," he said.
"A lot of people do set goals and want to achieve things game to game or throughout the season but for me I never do things like that because I was in good patch, then I got injured and was out for eight weeks.
"If I’d have set myself a target of scoring 20 goals it would have looked like a failure. I never try to expect too much of myself, I just go out there and play and hopefully enjoy it."
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