Iron new boy Jordan Clarke is relishing the opportunity of his Scunthorpe United debut, but admitted that the visit of Bristol City would provide a tough test.
The defender joined the club permanently from fellow League One side Coventry, where he played under Iron boss Mark Robins.Clarke revealed that having worked under Robins previously it made his decision to join a lot easier and hopes to fit straight into the squad.
He told The Iron Player: “Knowing how he wants the players to play and knowing him personally, it was definitely a factor.
“He gave a call a couple of weeks before to say he was interested, which was nice and made it that little bit easier.”
The former Coventry defender has been impressed with the impact that Robins has had and believes that his new side are very much on the up.
He said: “I’m very pleased (to join). The club is a very good club and it seems as though it’s on the up.
“The lads are great, the management’s great, obviously I’ve worked with the gaffer before and I’ve been working well so I’m pleased and looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Despite being at the club for only a short period of time, Clarke has his sights set on helping the Iron to continue to climb up the League One table.
That is just one of many targets that the ambitious defender has set for the team. Clarke said: “I’d like to keep as many clean sheets as possible.
“If you keep a clean sheet you’ve always got a chance of winning the game, all you’ve got to do is score.
“If not then just making sure we are just solid as a back four, whenever I come into that, and as a team we work well.
“I’d like to carry on my form in scoring goals, therefore I have to be in the box or be up there. They’re my aspirations and hopefully we can push on towards the play-offs.”
Clarke managed to score three times in seven matches whilst on loan at Yeovil earlier this season, where he witnessed the threat that Saturday’s visitors Bristol City pose.
The defender singled out their impressive strike force as a potential threat, but was confident that the Iron could stop them.
He said: “Matt Smith can’t stop scoring. I think he’s dangerous from set-pieces so we need to be smart in the areas we give away fouls or try and prevent them from getting corners, if not we have to be aggressive with our defending.”
The Iron have been in excellent form of late and are unbeaten in seven league matches, although Clarke admitted Saturday will be a tough test.
He said: “I can’t comment on previous games as I’ve not been here, but for the lads in general it’s definitely a test.
“If you want to be up there you have to beat the best and at the moment Bristol and Swindon are the best. Bristol can’t stop scoring goals so we need to stop that and score ourselves.”