Jayden Clarke says he feels like a whole new person this season after scoring another important goal for Gillingham on Saturday.
The 23-year-old was plucked from non-league Dulwich Hamlet by the Gills as a “project player” but in the previous campaign he struggled to make an impact, with only two cup goals to show for his efforts while lacking appearances as the season petered out. It’s been a different story this time around.
Clarke tops the club’s scoring charts with six goals, all in the league, while he’s also played in every single game so far – something nobody else in the squad can boast.
The weekend match-winner said: “From the start of the season I knew I needed to add goals to my game, because as an attacking player that’s what you need to bring to the team. I didn’t bring that last year.
“It’s something I worked on in the summer and I’m just happy it’s paying off but I need to build on it, keep impacting games and score more goals.
“Confidence is massive. I feel like a whole new person compared to how I felt in myself last season.
“I definitely feel like I can I can push and try to get to double digits (for goals), which would be nice. I’m just happy that I’m contributing in a positive way to the team.”
Of the leading scorers in the division, only Chesterfield’s Will Grigg can beat Clarke’s goal conversion percentage of 33%, netting six from 18 shots. Grigg’s also the only one to beat his 56% shot accuracy.
Clarke’s last goal was a month earlier, against Port Vale, in another 1-0 win. Prior to the weekend, it was Gillingham’s only victory in nine league outings.
He was the man to get the crucial goal again, this time against Salford.
Clarke said: “It’s a relief – it’s been been a while. We’ve been on a little bit of a bad run so it’s it’s just good to get the three points.
“The same thing happened against Port Vale when we got the three points, but then I didn’t feel we built on that, but now we definitely need to build on this three points and start a good run.
“We’ve needed to put in a performance like that for a while to be fair. We can’t now go and drop back to how it was before, we need to go and put in another good performance away at MK Dons (next Saturday) and try and get something from that game.
“It’s another big game day, they’re obviously doing well but again, that’s a game we can go and make a a statement if we go and get something.”
Gillingham’s players had come in for plenty of stick prior to the weekend. The promotion hopefuls started the weekend sitting mid-table and losing their previous two matches against lowly Harrogate and Bromley.
It was an important game to win and to answer a few critics who questioned their commitment.
Clarke said: “There had been a lot of talking saying that we care and stuff. I think it was about time we showed it, because we do care, but we just need to now build on that. That needs to be the minimum now in every game.”
Weather conditions weren’t great on Saturday, with the wind and rain making it a day that some might not have fancied.
Clarke said: “When the conditions are like that it shows if you’re really up for it, or not. You can’t get away with not being 100% committed. I think we were.
“I know all the players in the changing room do care. It was just about showing it and actually performing on the pitch, showing that we care. We just need to build on it now until the end of season.”
