Town striker Freddie Sears is sure he will reap the benefit of his first pre-season campaign with the club.

The 25-year-old striker only joined up at Portman Road in January following a £100,000 move from Colchester and became an instant hit with the Town supporters.

Sears claimed nine Championship goals to help Mick McCarthy’s men qualify for the play-offs, an impressive record given he only started 14 league games and was introduced as a substitute in a further seven.

Sears admitted: “I should definitely benefit from being here for pre-season. It has been good, Andy Liddell [fitness coach] has been good and TC has been good.

“We had a good week in Ireland, which was beneficial, and it’s nice to have a full season ahead of me. Last year when I came in I hit the ground running and I want to do the same again.”

Is the one-time West Ham youngster confident he can maintain his fine record over an entire campaign? He added: “I’d love to score 20 goals in the new season. I ended up with nine in half a season after coming to Ipswich and hopefully there will be a few more for me this year.

“It would be lovely to get 20. As a striker you always aim to get into double figures and 20 would mean I’d had a really good season.”

With fellow striker David McGoldrick now fully fit again and ex-Bournemouth marksman Brett Pitman also on board for the new season, Sears and last season’s top scorer, 27-goal Daryl Murphy, face extra competition for attacking places in McCarthy’s team.

Sears said: “It means we have four really good strikers and that’s what you want at the club.

“There’s going to be great competition for places and in the pre-season games so far there has been some great link-ups involving each of us.

“I think everyone is looking forward to the competition and getting among the goals.

“I can play in other positions — I’ve played on the left, on the right and I can play as the number 10.

“It is always good to be able to play a couple of roles and it gives good options for the manager.

“At the end of the day it’s down to him and what he wants to do. We’re all behind that and the focus is on getting into his team.

“If you look through our squad, probably everyone nowadays can play in two or three positions, which is always good for the manager and the team, especially in a league like the Championship where there are so many games.

“It’s Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday and sometimes you need that. I can play in various positions and I’m just looking forward to getting going again.”

Photo: Action Images

dude added 06:38 - Jul 31 clap ya hands everybody and everybody clap ya hands
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Len_Brennan added 07:18 - Jul 31 "We have 4 really good strikers" - I like a little bit of arrogance in my strikers. Sears sounds like a really smart, level-headed kind of guy, who clearly with a confidence in his own ability. That's what's needed to be successful successful in this game. He sees himself just as good & important as the other 3 & isn't afraid to say it.
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Special_A added 09:25 - Jul 31 This is all "good"
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