Clark ready for the 'hardest game in the world' as Town look to shock Manchester City

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Hatters head to the Etihad this afternoon

Luton midfielder Jordan Clark insists the Hatters will head into what he termed as the ‘hardest game in the world’ with the mindset to earn a shock victory when visiting title-chasing Manchester City this afternoon.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Town make the trip to the Etihad to face a home side who are sitting third in the table and locked in a three-way battle for the championship with Arsenal and Liverpool. Pep Guardiola’s side are in quite stunning form too as since beating Luton 2-1 at Kenilworth Road back in December, have won 21 out of their 26 games in all competitions, including a 6-2 thrashing of Town in the FA Cup.

Clark himself scored two on that evening, the first an absolutely stunning curler into the top corner from 25 yards, as he was also on target for the first time in the Premier League on Saturday, earning a quite crucial 2-1 victory over AFC Bournemouth. Ahead of a trip to a side who won the treble last term, including the Champions League, and are in the running for another three trophies this year too, drawing 3-3 with Real Madrid in their quarter-final clash in the Bernabéu on Tuesday night, Clark said: “It would be nice to get two more goals wouldn’t it?

Jordan Clark celebrates scoring against Manchester City in the FA Cup earlier this season - pic: Liam SmithJordan Clark celebrates scoring against Manchester City in the FA Cup earlier this season - pic: Liam Smith
Jordan Clark celebrates scoring against Manchester City in the FA Cup earlier this season - pic: Liam Smith

"We’re not silly, we know it’s going to be the hardest game in the world, so that’s why we had to win (against Bournemouth) and we knew it was so important to win. Listen, we’ll go there with a gameplan to win, we always do, but we’re not daft, we know how hard it will be to go there. We were speaking to a couple of the Arsenal players after the game and even they were saying it’s frightening how they suffocate you. You can’t get out of your own half and it’s just demoralising in a way when you’re not getting the ball for so long. We’ve gone to the big teams so far this year and have competed really well, so who knows, who knows?”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With six matches to go now, the Hatters fortunately won’t have any more three-game weeks, which with their injury situation was a plus for Clark, who continued: “We’ve been decimated. You can count the players who would probably be starting for us, it’s frightening. We’re lucky it’s Saturday, Saturday now apart from Everton on a Friday, so we can now prepare and rest up a lot more. We know whoever is going to go out there is going to give everything and we believe that we can stay up."

That fact that players such as Clark have come up through the leagues, as his goal at the weekend means he has now scored in the five tiers of English football, while he was set up by Luke Berry, another who has done so, makes Luton’s efforts in giving themselves a fighting chance, that much more an achievement.

With Cauley Woodrow setting up Carlton Morris for the winner, both players also having to put in the hard yards on their journey back to the top flight, Clark added: “It is, it’s very special and that’s what this club is, it’s a special club. The four years I’ve been here, you enjoy coming in so much to work every day and just being around the lads. If we’re playing pool or having a laugh, or if we’re being serious, we’re just such a tight-knit family. For Bezza to tackle the ball into my path and then Cauley’s bit of quality to find Carlton, it does mean a lot.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We’ve bought a lot of quality players in this year, Ross (Barkley) who’s been excellent, Chieo (Ogbene), Chongy (Tahith Chong), Teden (Mengi), obviously there’s loads more, but it is special because we’ve had such a journey together, especially Bezza and then Cauley and Carlton came a little bit later. It just shows the power of this club in giving players a chance, especially from League Two, League One and the Championship, it’s prevailing in the Premier League, so it’s a special club.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.