"More explosive" - Sunderland AFC: Tommy Watson reacts to comparisons with Ipswich Town's Jack Clarke | OneFootball

Do the Black Cats have another Clarke on their hands?

Newest Sunderland sensation Tommy Watson has played down the Jack Clarke comparisons after his match-winning performance for the Black Cats against Stoke City this past weekend.

One of the brightest talents to emerge from the Academy of Light in recent years got his Sunderland account up and running on Saturday with a handy brace for the Black Cats in their 2-1 home victory against the Potters.

Watson had only started a couple of games for his boyhood club prior to the win, which was Sunderland's first since the end of October. An injury to Romaine Mundle has handed the teenager the chance to start games in his favourite left-hand side position, and it's a chance he's taken with both hands.

His first was a trademark finish, just like one you would see from his youth team highlights. Cutting in from the left, his snap-shot towards the near post caught Viktor Johansson in the City net completely off guard and levelled the scores shortly after Lewis Koumas' opener.

The 18-year-old could have had four in the game, truth be told, with another first half chance finding the far post, and a second half opportunity from close range that he really should have scored from.

Eventually though, Watson got his brace. A deflected effort found its way into the back of the net, cementing the winger as the day's hero on a blustery afternoon on Wearside.

Sunderland supporters will be used to a blonde, floppy-haired, flair-filled winger in their red and white stripes. Last season's talisman Clarke used to do exactly what Watson did on Saturday before his move to Ipswich Town this summer.

Now that they are without him and Romaine Mundle, who has a hamstring injury so won't be back until 2025, the Black Cats needed Watson to step up, and he did.

On the comparisons between himself and Clarke, the 18-year-old tried to distinguish himself from his predecessor, telling the Northern Echo: "I liked the stuff he was doing and the way he attacked his man and contributed to the team with goals and assists but I think we're different players.

"I'm probably more explosive I think but as long as I can make an impact like he did I'll be happy. But I do want to try and take my name away from that and make my own name."

Watson is not short of confidence; he claimed that he wants to be the driving force of this team. That desire to effect games is a brilliant one, but it did make his integration into the squad, which was slower than he would have liked, a little frustrating.

"I think I'm now ready to start contributing with more goals and assists. I want to be the main man here, scoring and assisting as much as I can," Watson added.

"It's been quite frustrating as a young kid because you feel ready even though you're probably not. But I'm really happy with how it's all happened and I'm blessed with the group of lads in the dressing room in my breakthrough season."

Tommy Watson has a great opportunity to establish his place in the starting XI

Sunderland's head coach, Regis Le Bris, said, after his side's loss to Sheffield United, in which Watson started but wasn't his best, that there was a big gap between the first-team regulars and those coming through the ranks.

Because of the injuries and suspensions that the Black Cats have had to deal with recently, there has been more of a reliance on the younger players, not that they are short of them.

Le Bris is looking to see which of them is ready to step into first team roles, like Watson's fellow academy graduate Chris Rigg has. That performance on Saturday might be the first step towards more and more starting XI involvement for the 18-year-old.