THERE was a time not too long ago when Matt Clarke didn't know when his next appearance for Middlesbrough would come.

Now, how would Boro manage without him?

The 27-year-old is currently the only fit senior centre-half in Michael Carrick's squad but even if his fellow central defenders were available, Clarke would almost certainly still be a starter. How couldn't he be?

Since the turn of the year, the former Portsmouth and West Brom man has been one of Boro's stand-out performers and, although he was involved in a mix-up that led to Pompey's second goal on Saturday, he's enjoyed an impressive start to the current campaign.

And to think that this time last year Clarke didn't know when he'd back playing and if he'd ever be able to get anywhere near his best again.

A career-threatening back injury sidelined Clarke for 13 months from October 2022 to November last year, with surgery required and his future at the time uncertain.

How, then, did he get through it?

"You just have to keep going, however bad it is, just attack the next rehab session, the next running session, the next gym session and just at the back of your mind you always back yourself that you’ve still got that fire, got that ability that you’ve still got something to add," says the defender.

"Even when I was injured and had no path back, I came to the games and still believed I could add something to the group and think the team would be better with me in it and you have to have that as a footballer I think."

He wasn't wrong.

And although Clarke insists his mindset hasn't really changed since his testing spell on the sidelines, he cherishes every minute on the pitch.

He says: "I am someone who likes to put a lot of work in and works quite meticulously and that could have been a part for the injury in certain ways, so I maybe work a little bit differently. But I just take it as it comes and try and enjoy it as much as I can because I have experienced the other side where you don’t know when your next minutes and your next game is going to come.

"Every time I get the chance to play, I try to express myself and just give it everything."

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Dealing with injuries is part and parcel of life as a footballer, as Clarke's fellow defenders Dael Fry and Darragh Lenihan have discovered in recent months, and having gone through his own experiences, Clarke is on hand to support his teammates who are out of action.

He says: "As a group we try and support each other and if anyone asks me for advice I try to be open and honest.

"We are a good group and there is always support because it’s not always easy and it’s a really tough place to be when you’re out. It’s not easy."

While Clarke's priority is his work in his own box, he's been working hard on being a threat in the opposition area and that effort paid off with his first goal of the season against his former club on Saturday.

"It’s been something I work on tirelessly," he said.

"I feel I get my head on a lot of set pieces and haven’t really get the rewards for that work so it’s nice to see it paid off.

"Hopefully that can kick start us with our set pieces because they’re important and a massive part of the game."

Another massive part of Boro's game is cutting out the errors that proved costly against both Derby and Portsmouth. After Isaiah Jones' mishap at Pride Park, Clarke and Seny Dieng were involved in the mix-up that gifted Pompey a goal on Saturday.

Clarke said: "I haven’t watched it back, I don’t know, but it’s a sloppy one.

"I don’t make the first decision and it’s a bit of a mix-up I suppose and you get punished for that, which is really frustrating because we’d had the sloppy start and put it behind us and we could have gone on to win the game. But we gave them another leg up and something to hold on to and that’s something we need to learn from and make sure it doesn’t happen again."

Given Carrick's lack of defensive options, Clarke is likely to keep his place in the side for tomorrow's visit of Stoke in the Carabao Cup second round.

He said: "We'll attack the game on Tuesday and look to progress in that competition and look to do the same on Saturday."