Former Southend United midfielder ‘fits the model’ of Horsham squad says Di Paola

The 21-year-old joined the Rocks in the summer and has scored five goals in 22 league appearances this season.

A former academy player at League One outfit Southend United, Clark appeared at U18 and U23 level at Roots Hall before dropping into non-league football upon his release in the summer of 2018.

After brief stops at Harlow Town and Heybridge Swifts, he joined the Hornets’ near-neighbours Three Bridges in November that same year, appearing 20 times for the Isthmian South East club and scoring on his debut.

Di Paola says Clark ‘fits the model’ of his Horsham squad.

He said: “I saw him play two or three times last year for Three Bridges and would have gone in for him had I not wrongly thought that he was on loan from Southend.

“I’ve seen him a couple of times this year for East Thurrock and I like the way he plays.

“He’s young and fits the model of where we’re trying to go with the squad, in terms of the type of player we want to bring in. He wants to kick on.

The Horsham boss added: “He’s got pedigree, coming out of the pro game, a bit like Alex Kelly, Charlie Harris, and Harvey Sparks.

“We don’t necessarily want players that want to get back in to the pro game but want players that have got that mentality in them where they want to improve and I like the look of him.

“We’ll see how he does but it’s hard coming into any squad at this stage of the season and it’s quite a strong squad, but we’re going to have a look at him and hopefully, if he can do what we think he can do, he’s going to add something to the squad.”