'I became a bit bitter' - Former Portsmouth, Ipswich and Derby defender opens up on the injury nightmare that cost him 14 months of his Middlesbrough career

Huge former Fratton favourite Matt Clarke has opened up on the injury nightmare that cost him 14 valuable months of his career.

The 27-year-old had no other choice but to go under the knife because of crippling back pain that was impacting his performances for new club Middlesbrough, for whom he signed in the summer of 2022.

But between his last appearance for the Championship outfit on October 1, 2022, and his comeback outing against Preston North End on November 28, 2023, Clarke admitted he began to feel bitter towards football – simply because he had no idea when his torment would end.

Now eight games into his comeback, Clarke told Teeside Live: ‘I’d been pretty fortunate up to that point with injuries. I had a month or two of injections and treatment, trying to strengthen a few areas so I could get back, but then one month became two, two months became three and it ended up being an absolute nightmare.

‘It’s probably as bad as it gets as a footballer when your next game just keeps on getting taken away from you indefinitely. As a professional footballer, your mind and focus is always on the next game. At the end of a season, you know the date you’re coming back for at the start of pre-season. If you’ve had a hamstring, you’re looking ahead six weeks. Even if you do your ACL or something like that, you’re looking nine months ahead and thinking, “Okay, maybe by January I’ll be ready to play”.

‘That wasn’t the case for me. It was indefinite, and when you see the specialists and the path back to where you want to be isn’t clear and you can’t put dates on things, then that’s frustrating. Even in the changing room, the lads are asking, “When are you going to be back”. If you can’t answer that, it’s a tough place to be. It was a frustrating time.’

Clarke made 175 appearances for Pompey after initially moving to Fratton Park in 2015 on loan from Ipswich under Paul Cook. He would spend four seasons on the south coast, helping the Blues win the League Two title and lift the Checkatrade Trophy at Wembley. Before a big-money move to Brighton in 2019, the centre-back was also voted The News/Sports Mail Pompey player of the season twice.

Despite not being able to force his way into the Seagulls first team, Clarke’s reputation continued to soar after Pompey thanks to loan moves to Derby (twice) and West Brom. But the game that had provided him so much satisfaction made him feel resentful as he struggled with not knowing when he’d be back.

He added: ‘I think you always trust that things will get better eventually, but when you’ve lived with a lot of pain, and you do all the work but the pain doesn’t go away, or you see the specialist but the pain doesn’t go away either, that’s a tricky and frustrating spot to be in.

‘Listen, there’s always someone worse off than you. It’s football, at the end of the day, and that’s the perspective you have to have. I try to avoid getting into “dark places” and all this sort of thing because, at the end of the day, there are some people out there who are really struggling. It’s frustrating not being able to play football, but in perspective, it’s just one of those things and you just have to keep working and trusting that, eventually, things will come better for you.

‘I suppose I became a bit bitter towards football. Football is the thing that I’ve always been able to do and loved, and what I see my purpose in life as, to a point. When you can’t do that, you become a little bit resentful. But you have to just focus on the work and what you can do.’

No doubt, Pompey fans will wish Clarke well with his comeback and will be pleased that he’s started two of Middlesbrough’s past three games. There’s also no denying that the Fratton faithful would love to see him back at PO4 one day. Although coming as a temporary replacement for ACL victim Regan Poole – which many had wondered – looks out of the question given his importance to Michael Carrick.

Nevertheless, the future looks a lot bright for the popular defender, who admits he’s finally in a good place again.

'I feel really good now,’ said Clarke. ‘I feel like I’m capable of doing whatever I need to do. Obviously, there’s always a bit of rustiness and you don’t really know what level you’re going to come back to, but you have to find that stuff along the way. I feel like I can do whatever I need to do, so it’s up to me to find my level and my form.’