Luke Chambers admits he was surprised to find himself one of the elder statesmen of the Ipswich squad upon his arrival last month.
The former Nottingham Forest skipper is still only 26 and said: "It is strange in a way — and I was talking about this the other day — that I do seem a little bit older than most of the other boys.
"I’ve come in and found myself one of the senior players. I’ve played a lot of games in my career so it’s something that I might have to take on and try to help them as much as I can.
"But they are a very good group, all with good heads on their shoulders, and I don’t think they will need too many arms round them on the way. They are fully focused on the job in hand and they have the ability to go with the mindset.
"There are some very good players here. They feel they under-achieved last year and at the back of their minds as they go into the new season they are thinking they have a point to prove. They definitely want to improve on where they finished last season. The quality in the dressing room is of a very good standard and there’s no reason why we can’t go out and make an impact in the new season.”
Chambers is also pleasantly surprised that he has settled into his new surroundings so quickly after only checking in at Portman Road last month.
He added: "I feel I’ve been here a lot longer than just a few weeks and it’s been a good pre-season for us. Obviously the results during the early part weren’t what we wanted but we were working our way to the level we’re at now.
"The last few results have been decent but at the end of the day pre-season is about being fit for the first game of the season and that’s been our main aim all the way through. Performances have improved and we are very positive going into the new season.
"I wanted to settle in as quickly as possible. I’m not one to shy away from meeting new people. We sort of knew each other from playing against each other and it’s a fairly easy dressing room to settle into.
"I’ve really, really enjoyed the first few weeks. I owe a big thank-you to the rest of the lads for helping me to settle in so quickly. They have been first class and I’ve seen very quickly that we have a very good group of players here.”