Partick Thistle head coach Mark Wilson believes former Glenavon goalkeeper Josh Clarke has “plenty of potential” after the Northern Ireland youth international joined the Scottish Championship club on loan from Celtic.

Clarke was brought in as emergency cover by the Lurgan Blues in April 2022 for the closing stages of their league campaign and only one day after signing, he saved a penalty in a win over Ballymena United.

In total, Clarke made six appearances for Glenavon and used his brief Irish League stint as a platform to impress with Scottish giants Celtic making their move in August 2022.

The 20-year-old has also previously spent time on the books of Chelsea and Bournemouth while he was called up to Northern Ireland’s senior squad for the first time aged 17 – just a matter of days before joining Glenavon.

placeholder image — Josh Clarke (far right) training alongside Northern Ireland goalkeepers Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Conor Hazard and Luke Southwood in March 2022. (Photo by William Cherry/Presseye)

Clarke was on the bench as Northern Ireland defeated Luxembourg in a friendly and was involved once again for UEFA Nations League fixtures against Greece, Cyprus and Kosovo two months later, but ultimately didn’t register a senior appearance.

He has had an interesting international journey, representing Sweden, England, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland at youth level – Clarke most recently played for the latter’s U21s.

Clarke has been involved in Celtic’s squad throughout this summer’s pre-season schedule, including for fixtures against the likes of Sporting Lisbon and Newcastle United, and his contract runs until 2027.

He’ll now look to gain further senior experience having spent time on loan with Ayr United, who also ply their trade in the Scottish Championship, last season.

“We’re very pleased to bring Josh to the club – he’s a young, hungry goalkeeper who’s already had a taste of Championship football and is keen to play more,” said Wilson. “We came up against him at the back end of last season and you could see that he’s an assured and confident player who has plenty of potential so I’m excited to work with him this season.”

Clarke’s most memorable performance for Celtic’s B team came in their 2023 Glasgow Cup final triumph over Rangers, saving four penalties in a shootout success at Ibrox.

He impressed former Scotland international Scott Brown, who is manager of Ayr, telling the Ayr Advertiser in March: “We had a big decision to make, we’ve chopped and changed goalies.

"If we could’ve got Josh at the start of the season by all means we would’ve done, we wanted to keep him.

“We all know what Josh is about. He’s a fantastic character about the place, he’s well driven, he works extremely hard, and he wants the best for his footballing career. You want somebody like that who’s a livewire about the place.”