Woolfenden: We Do Our Talking On the Pitch Wednesday, 26th Apr 2023 10:13 Centre-half Luke Woolfenden said Town did their talking on the pitch after the Blues defeated fourth-placed Barnsley 3-0 at Oakwell to move within whisker of promotion back to the Championship. The Tykes went into the match aiming to win 10 in a row at home for the first time since a 12-game winning streak at Oakwell in 1914/15, an outcome their social media accounts seemed to take as a fait accompli in the run-up to the match, while also making mocking reference to Town postponing the fixture a month ago due to international calls. Quizzed on how high the victory over the Tykes ranks among several hugely impressive away wins lately, Woolfenden said: “Up at the top, a massive travelling crowd on a Tuesday night, miles away form home like everything is, but they’ll go home happy, we’ll go home happy and ready to follow it up Saturday.” The manner and margin of the victory was all the more impressive against a Barnsley side which had previously been in such good form, particularly at Oakwell. “I think their social media team made that clear!” the 24-year-old laughed. “Did that spur us on? No, it’s one of those things. I don’t know why people do it because it always comes back and makes you look a fool in the end, which is why we do our talking on the pitch!”
Town look supremely confident going into games at present and Woolfenden says the players go into matches full of self-belief. “You go out expecting to win games,” he said. “We know we’ve got good players, we work hard, we cover a lot of distance, we keep the ball, we move the ball, we work a position and opposition teams really well.” The Blues have also shown no sign of pressure in their remarkable run of 12 wins from 13 which has taken them to the cusp of promotion back to the Championship after four years away. “We’ve stood up to that in the last couple of games,” the former East Bergholt High School pupil said. “After the Bristol Rovers draw, a lot of people were downbeat and it was looking like we were going to fall short again, but we didn’t let it affect us in the camp and stood tall together, came out as a team and look at us now.”
Did that 0-0 draw, which immediately preceded an eight-game winning streak, and the reaction to it drive you on? “I think the gaffer [manager Kieran McKenna] said after the game, on a Tuesday night a point at Bristol Rovers and a clean sheet is something to build on, if you come out the other side of it and follow it up with wins, and we have done.” Woolfenden, who joined the academy aged 11, thoroughly enjoys playing in this team having felt less than enthused with life at Portman Road under previous managers. “I think I’ve said it before under the gaffer, it’s probably the most I’ve enjoyed football,” he continued. “I look forward to coming in every day and that hadn’t been the case for a while before him.”  Woolfenden says as well as McKenna, the Town boss’s staff have also helped him improve his game. “Not just him, obviously he’s done a lot,” he said. “But I work with Perty [first-team coach Martyn Pert] pretty much every day and he’s always showing me things that I can do better but in a way that he knows will spur me on. I’m really grateful that they’re here.” Last night’ 3-0 victory took the Blues’ clean sheet record to 22 in their 44 League One matches and 12 in their last 14. “Not bad for a defender who can’t defend, is it?” Woolfenden smiled. “First and foremost, it’s great for Walts [Christan Walton], it’s great for the back four, but you saw the work that Hirsty [George Hirst] put in today, Chappers [Conor Chaplin], Broady [Nathan Broadhead], the numbers they get through are unbelievable. “It usually falls on the back lads but in the same way that we have to contribute goals, the attackers contribute to the clean sheets as well.” For most of the season, Woolfenden has played alongside Cameron Burgess at the back: “I enjoy playing alongside him. We probably complement one another well in the fact that he’s got the balance to be out on his left and he’s dominant in the air and my strength is reading games, reading flick-ons and getting interceptions. I think we complement each other well in that regard.”  Woolfenden faced former teammate James Norwood at Oakwell, having come up against another ex-Blue - and another Chantry boy - Macauley Bonne in the Blues’ 6-0 hammering of Charlton earlier this month. “It’s good to see them both playing,” he said. “Nors is obviously enjoying his football, not so much Macca, I think Macca will be probably look to be going again next season and getting into the goals again, and hopefully he does. “They both tried their best when they were here and did good things for the club, so it’s good to see them playing football.” Woolfenden had praise for the 5,000 travelling Town supporters, who made themselves heard throughout last night’s match. “When you give them a reason to be noisy, they’re up there with the best,” he said. “The celebrations after the game and after the third goal were unbelievable. “They’ve not had much to cheer about in the last couple of years but hopefully it will end in cheers.” Woolfenden knows those supporters have been through difficult times in recent years: “They’ve been tough, but they’ve always stuck with us, not so much like the lot down the road. They’ve always stuck with us, they’re brilliant.” Town could clinch promotion with a victory over Exeter at Portman Road in front of another sell-out home crowd on Saturday. “Everyone’s expecting it but we’ve got to go out there and deliver it,” Woolfenden reflected. “That was the message after the game, driven by Skip [Sam Morsy] and Keysy [Richard Keogh], experienced heads - that we’ve got to go again and we’ll be looking to do that.” If Town do get over the line, what will promotion mean to him given his long-time links with the club. “I’ve had chances to leave before and I’ve always said that I wanted to get promoted with Ipswich before I did anything,” he said. “I’ve turned my back on a few moves and signed new deals in the hope that it will come to fruition, and hopefully it will.” Is he expecting his phone to be buzzing with ticket requests from friends in the next couple of days? “You should see my Notes list! Five here, four there, three here. Do you know what the thing is? They weren’t coming when we were losing, were they? You know who your mates are when the times are tough, don’t you!”
Photo: Matchday Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 295 bloggersIpswich Town Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
