Davis: We've Made a Bit of a Statement Monday, 15th Aug 2022 11:03 Town’s rampant display in defeating MK Dons 3-0 at Portman Road on Saturday has been labelled a statement performance by recent recruit Leif Davis ahead of tomorrow’s visit to Burton Albion. Former Leeds United defender Davis, who cost the Blues a £1 million-plus fee when he joined last month, said: “I think we’ve made a bit of a statement that we’re really going for it this season and we’ll keep pushing and pushing until the job is done. “It was tough coming in here after being to Australia and back on a pre-season trip with Leeds. Within four days of signing for Ipswich I was starting a game. “It was a very quick turnaround but I feel I’ve been finding my feet since then and improving. Settling in here hasn’t been a problem because the lads and the staff are so welcoming, so my focus now is on playing week in, week out, at this incredible club. “We are still unbeaten, we have taken seven points from three games and we are sitting on top of the table, which shows what we’re all about. Of course, it’s still early days but I’d rather be where we are than down at the bottom end. “It’s an encouraging start to the season while some teams are still struggling to get going and we made such a bright start against MK Dons to put them on the back foot, which is what we’ll be looking to do in every game we play this season. “But we can take absolutely nothing for granted when we go to Burton tomorrow. I think any game will be a hard game this season. You can’t go into any of them thinking it’s going to be a stroll in the park. “Burton scored four goals away from home at Accrington on Saturday and although they drew the game that was a great effort. “We had a great result ourselves but as soon as that one was finished the focus was on Burton and what we have to do there to get another three points. “As long as we keep working hard, I think we’ll be good to go. We’re only three games into the season so there’s no chance of us getting carried away.” Newcastle-born Davis is a product of the famous Wallsend Boys Club that has produced dozens of professional footballers over the years, most notably England stars Alan Shearer, Michael Carrick and Peter Beardsley, along with goalkeeper Fraser Forster, Steve Bruce and Lee Clark. He joined the Morecambe academy and then had four years at Elland Road before joining Town. He said: “I learned a lot at Leeds under Marcelo [Bielsa, former head coach]. He was incredible and taught us things that I’d never seen before, while his staff were also good to work under. “One of Marcelo’s things was that when you got tired you had to carry on. Stopping wasn’t an option, you had to keep going. “There was nothing complicated about it but if you remember when Leeds were promoted to the Premier League they were known for running over teams. “Marcelo was an inspirational figure for me and all the players at Elland Road, the type of guy you were desperate to do well for.” Davis faces competition for a first-team place from another former Morecambe player in Greg Leigh, an ex-Manchester City youngster and another summer arrival at the club who has featured as a substitute in all three of Town’s league games this term. He continued: “Greg’s a great player and when he comes on, he gives it his all every time. He’s a real athlete, the way he drives up and down and gives 100 per cent in everything he does, so I can’t fault him for that. “We’re a team and we work together every week, pushing each other in training from one day to the next, and we’ll carry on doing that. “There are things I need to work on in training, which the manager has identified, and even in the short time I’ve been at the club I can feel I’ve already improved in defending areas. The MK Dons game was a good test for me and I felt I dealt with it well. “There’s more to the role than defending and I like to get forward. That part of the game is coming along too and the fitter I get, and the more games I play, the better I will become in providing assists from the left side and also getting to the far post when we’re attacking down the other wing. I’m keen to show everyone what I can do in terms of creating chances and even scoring a goal or two. “It’s all about performing and winning as a team. We’ll go through the eye of a storm at times and have rough patches but as long as we stick together we’ll fight through it. This club is going in the right direction and with the gaffer we have, his staff, the squad he has put together, he has high expectations of everyone. “He’s a great manager, who just wants you to work hard in training every day, which is good. That’s how you learn and keep fit, and you have to play the way we did on Saturday to get results. We just played so well from start to finish and never let up.” Finally, Davis is hoping that the long distance from Newcastle won’t prevent him seeing his family from time to time this season. “It was a six-hour trip down to Bournemouth for them last year and it’s about five hours to Ipswich,” he said. “But they just want to see me happy playing football and doing well.”
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