Ipswich midfielder Dan Neil says his old Sunderland team-mate Jack Clarke could prove the difference in their quest for automatic promotion.
The 25-year-old winger stole the show in Saturday’s draw with promotion rivals Millwall at Portman Road, breaking the deadlock with his 14th goal of the Championship season, only for the Lions to hit back in the second half.
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Neil played 97 times alongside Clarke across four seasons at Sunderland and has now had eight games with him in the Ipswich side after joining on loan from the Black Cats in January.
“That was probably the best Jack Clarke performance I have seen since I got back playing with him,” Neil told BBC Radio Suffolk. “He was direct, the right-back was almost a bit scared when he was getting it.
“When he’s on it, he’s by far the best winger in this league, bar none, and you saw that.
“We need to keep feeding him the ball in dangerous areas between now and the end of the season and he can be the difference-maker for us.”
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Neil admitted that overall Ipswich felt the draw was “two points dropped” despite staying above Millwall on goal difference, two points behind Middlesbrough in the second automatic promotion place.
“With Middlesbrough drawing it feels an opportunity missed but it’s another point on the board, we still have the game in hand so we’re still in a good position,” he added.
“The old cliché is taking one game at a time. Saturday was the best atmosphere I have heard since I’ve been here. Eight games to go, we’re going to need everybody, players, staff, fans, to try and get us over the line.”
Neil helped Sunderland to promotion via the play-offs last season but says there are not many parallels between their position and the Tractor Boys’ this season.
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“You just have to keep going until the end. It’s slightly different (this season). With Sunderland at this point we were rooted in fourth, really in a little bit of no man’s land, no chance to get second or seventh.
“We have an unbelievable chance to sneak into the top two. Away from home we need to do slightly better with the mentality – it’s more siege mentality, their fans are going to want to spoil our promotion chase. We need to stick together.”
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