Clark toyed with idea of leaving Toon

CIARAN Clark admits he considered leaving Newcastle United in the summer after growing frustrated with his limited role on Tyneside.

But the Irish defender has revealed a conversation with new head coach Steve Bruce convinced him to stay and fight for his place with the Magpies.

Clark has impressed after forcing his way back into the firstteam fold, and has netted in both of United’s consecutive victories over West Ham and Bournemouth.

The 30-year-old’s form prompted Republic of Ireland boss Mick McCarthy to recall the defender for the friendly with New Zealand and the qualifier against Denmark. Speaking in Dublin ahead of Thursday’s friendly, Clark has opened up on his journey from United outcast to earning his place back with his country.

When asked whether he considered leaving United after three seasons in the North East, Clark said: “It was something I thought about in the summer,” according to the Irish Independent.

The centre-back continued: “I didn’t know what the situation was with the manager and I thought about it a lot, the manager came late into pre-season and there wasn’t much time to do anything.

“He wanted a chance to look at everyone in the squad, I had a chat with him, explained my situation and how I wanted to be playing games.”

“He [Bruce] said to see how the first part of the season went and we’d assess it in January. He was fair with me, it was down to me to keep working hard and training and doing all I could to get back into the team and I have managed to do that.” Clark admits it was “disappointing” to fall out of contention for Ireland during his time on the sidelines at Newcastle, but says the frustrating spell gave him the “motivation” to force his way back into the picture for both club and country.

He finished: “It’s been a while since I was in the Ireland squad, I knew if I wasn’t playing games regularly I wouldn’t get a call.

“My aim was to get into the Newcastle team and stay there, if I did that I knew it would have a chance of getting me into the squad here, which I managed to do.”