Life in Suffolk beats living in London for Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, whose return visits to the capital have become less frequent since he signed for Ipswich 13 months ago.
The 21-year-old former Arsenal player hails from Forest Gate and admitted: "Where I grew up in London wasn’t the best of neighbourhoods. I still go back there from time to time and I have family there who don’t want to leave.
"But in Suffolk it’s totally different, a lot quieter and more relaxing. When I go home it’s headaches, noise and police sirens.
"If I do want to go back there it only takes me an hour and a half but I prefer not to. I have friends and family who come down here to see me at my house or watch games.”
Emmanuel-Thomas has netted seven goals in 45 Town appearances and intends to improve his career statistics in the months ahead.
He added: "I’m aiming for 15 to 20 goals and I want 20 assists. I had two the other night against Bristol Rovers so that’s just 18 to go.
"My job is to give the left-back hassle and stop him from going the other way. If I can get him going back towards his own goal he’s not going to want to go forward in case he gets caught out. Once I get past the half-way line if there is no one near me I’m going to shoot.
"It was a great result against Bristol Rovers and I hope we can take that win, plus the two pre-season wins against Colchester and West Ham, and keep it going.”
Town launch their Championship campaign against relegated Blackburn at Portman Road tomorrow with the man known as JET predicting: "I think it will be quite a tight league. There are a few teams who have come down from the Premiership who are still decent sides.
"Blackburn and Bolton are still good teams that you would not really expect to be down in this league but what can you do? That’s football. I don’t know which players have left Blackburn and which are still there but I’m not scared to play against anyone and I’m not fazed by anything.
"Our new boys have settled in really well and I believe it is going to be a good season for us. Massimo Luongo is a neat and tidy player. He just likes to get on the ball and pass it. Hopefully he can keep it going for the rest of the season while he’s here. I think he has family coming down for company. He’s a decent lad and a very good player.
"But we have a lot of talented young boys and I don’t think it’s a case of the fans having to be patient. The transfer window will close at the end of the month but then it opens again a fortnight later for loans so you never know who might be coming through the door.”