The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Star striker will be a man on a mission
Posh striker Jonson ClarkeHarris is a man on a mission.
The 27 year-old forward, who could make his international debut for Jamaica later this month, believes an immediate drop back down to League One could have been avoided if manager Grant McCann had returned to the Weston Homes Stadium earlier than February 26.
And Clarke-Harris has vowed to return for pre-season training in peak physical condition after injury caused a slow start to the 2021-22 campaign.
"We will be ready to start fast next season so we can get back into the Championship straight away,” Clarke-Harris, who finished the season as Posh captain, stated.
“"We believe in each other. We look up to each other and we enjoy working under the gaffer and Cliff (Byrne, the assistant manager). The standards shot up when they arrived and things would have been different if they’d arrived sooner.
"I picked up my pace towards the end of the season. I got a run of games, got my match fitness up and started scoring regularly.
"The damage had already been done, but the way we were towards the end of the season should have been the way we were from the start.
"I played my first game of pre-season at King’s Lynn and three days later I was thrown straight in and started the first Championship match at Luton.
“It was never going to go well.
"It just wasn’t possible because of certain circumstances. I’d played while I was injured the season before.
"I then suffered too may setbacks in the summer.
"I tried to be a soldier for the team, but in the first-half of the season I forget how to be a striker.
"I wasn’t seeing any crosses and I wasn’t getting any shots.
"All the forwards were getting disappointed because we weren’t getting any chances.”
Clarke-Harris scored seven of his 12 goals last season after McCann’s arrival as manager. He has now finished top scorer in both of his seasons at the club following a million pound move from Bristol Rovers in July, 2020.
Clarke-Harris won the League One Golden Boot with 33 goals in his first season at the club.