JACK CLARKE’S future might have been the subject of considerable uncertainty this summer – but Tony Mowbray was never worried about the winger’s mindset once a potential move to Burnley broke down.

Clarke was the subject of a series of Burnley bids during the summer transfer window, with the Clarets’ final offer of around £13m being rejected in August.

The 22-year-old was fully aware of Burnley’s interest, and it has been suggested that he was keen to test himself in the Premier League after failing to make a top-flight breakthrough during his time at Tottenham.

There are plenty of examples of players reacting negatively to the breakdown of transfer talks, but Clarke’s form in the first two months of the season could hardly have been more impressive, with his second-half strike at Blackburn on Wednesday night making it five goals in his last six games.

Mowbray was understandably delighted to see Clarke remain in his squad, and having maintained a regular dialogue with the youngster throughout the summer, was never worried about how he would react to staying with Sunderland.

“Were there any worries? No, not really,” said Mowbray, whose side start the weekend sitting in fourth position in the table after their win at Ewood Park. “He told me that if the move happens, it happens and he’ll take it in his stride. But if it doesn’t happen, he’s going to be happy at this football club.

“He said that to me, so I didn’t have any fears. It wasn’t like he was banging on my door saying, ‘Gaffer, I want to go, what’s going on? Get that deal done and sorted out’. He wasn’t doing that. He was saying, ‘If it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t happen, I’ll give you everything I’ve got in every game’. That was good to hear, and he’s continued to do that.”

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Clarke’s stellar form has been a key factor in Sunderland’s impressive start to the season, with the winger having caused a succession of problems down the Black Cats’ left-hand side and helped shoulder some of the goalscoring responsibility created by the absence of last season’s leading scorer, Amad Diallo.

While Sunderland continue to function without a regular scorer up front – Mason Burstow is still finding his feet following a loan move from Chelsea, Luis Hemir continues to settle in following a summer switch from Portugal and Nazariy Rusyn has only just received a visa enabling him to play following his move from Zorya Luhansk – Clarke is one of a number of goalscoring threats in midfield or wide positions.

In Clarke, Jobe Bellingham, Pierre Ekwah and Dan Neil, Sunderland boast four players who have claimed a combined total of 11 goals already this season. Throw in Patrick Roberts, who consistently offers a goalscoring threat when playing, and Bradley Dack, who is already off the mark after moving from Blackburn, and you have an attacking-midfield unit that looks capable of finding the net on a regular basis.

“I feel you need to score from everywhere,” said Mowbray. “We’ve got a number of players who have scored now, over the course of a season, they have to make that seven or eight if they can.

“Everybody has to chip in, then if your centre-forward plays enough games, you’re hoping he gets well into double figures. If you can get the goals from everywhere, you end up getting the 60 or 70 goals you need to be up there. If you can get to 80 or 90 goals, then that’s the level you’re generally talking about for the teams that win the league.

“It’s massively important that goals come from everywhere, and at the moment, I think the team are stepping up and doing that. It’s a message they’ve had loud and clear for a long time now – I don’t want those players standing around when the ball is coming into the box, and I don’t want the central-midfield players being afraid of taking a shot. They’re all contributing and doing well, and long may that continue.”

Tomorrow’s game pits Sunderland against a Cardiff side that have started the season reasonably strongly, winning four of their last five matches in all competitions.

“It’ll be different to the last game,” said Mowbray. “But Cardiff have some very good players. It seems to me as if they’ve upgraded their team a little bit.

“Obviously, Aaron Ramsey is back playing at Cardiff, a legendary footballer for Wales, and they seem to have recruited pretty well. They’ve just won back-to-back games, one of which was their big derby against Swansea, so it’ll be a game where we have to be at our best.”