Ryan Stevenson has lapped up his first taste of senior action at Ipswich and is hungry for more. Substitute appearances in the 3-0 home defeat of Bristol City last Saturday and the midweek 1-1 draw at Championship leaders Southampton have whetted the appetite of the 27-year-old Scot.
Stevenson, who cost £50,000 from Hearts just before the closure of the January transfer window, admitted he had been anxious to get involved from day one.
He said: "I had been chomping at the bit since I came to the club but the boys have been on a fantastic run and done really well.
"It’s a double-edged sword for me. I want the boys to do well but the better they do the harder it is going to be for me to force my way into the side.
"All I can do is keep my head down and try to force my way in. I’ve got to try to impress the manager enough to fit into his plans and then see where we go from there.”
His two appearances represent just 20 minutes of first team action so far but Stevenson sees it as a major breakthrough.
He added: "I went through a tough couple of months where I didn’t play at Hearts and I want to try to make up for lost time.
"I’ve got to put in the effort in training. It’s all about trying to show the manager every single day that I deserve to be here and trying to force my way into his plans.
"I’m anxious to play. The way I see it, if I miss a game it’s a game that is lost for ever. I believe I am very fortunate to be a footballer, doing something that I love every day, and I want to play as many games as I can.
"I always work as hard as I possibly can to get in the team. We have top-quality players here but that was one of the reasons I wanted to come here — to give myself a challenge against really good players in a really good league. You can be sure I’ll give it my best shot.”