The current campaign ends tomorrow but Town midfielder Ryan Stevenson is already fired up by the challenge of establishing himself at Portman Road next season.
Stevenson’s three months at the club has been little more than a settling-in period, with only two of his 10 appearances to date being starts, and he has yet to complete an entire 90 minutes.
But the ex-Hearts star is determined he will make an impact next season after completing his £50,000 move in January following a period of self-imposed exile triggered by the Edinburgh club’s failure to pay their wages on time for the majority of his two-year stay there.
Stevenson, 27, said: "The good thing about coming down in January is that I got to know all the boys and got settled in the area.
"If it had been pre-season I’d have been doing all that as well. Pre-season is obviously a big thing and I can imagine it will be a hard two months for us. I’ve had my wife and son down and they will come back with me in July then I’ll be ready to hit the ground running.
"With pre-season everyone goes away on holiday and when they return it’s a level playing field. I’ve spoken to the manager about this and that’s what we are looking towards.
"I love it here. The rest of the lads have been brilliant. I’ve said that from day one because they have made me feel really welcome. It’s a good bunch of lads here and we’ve got a good squad.
"I’m excited by next season because we’ve shown in the last 18 games that it is possible for us to go on a run, beating the teams at the top of the league.
"If the manager adds a couple to the squad it is only going to help us and hopefully we can take the confidence that comes from the run we have been on since January into the new season. If we can make a good start you never know where we might end up.”
Stevenson, like all members of Paul Jewell’s squad, will be given a fitness routine to follow during the weeks prior to his return for pre-season training.
He added: "Training on my own is nothing new to me. My home is in Troon, on the Ayrshire coast, so I’ll mix up my training with runs along the beach — I’ve done that plenty of times — and sessions in the gym.
"I’m more eager to get started this year than I have been for some time and I’m 100 per cent certain to give it everything I’ve got to make sure I do well for the manager and this club, helping Ipswich to get back to where they want to be.”
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