Tyrone Barnett has revealed that his loan move to long-term admirers Ipswich took him by surprise but provided the perfect pick-me-up.
Town wasted no time in securing Barnett’s services until January when relegation rivals Peterborough fined and transfer-listed him after he was cautioned by police following a Saturday night out with three team-mates.
Barnett said: "It came out of the blue. Obviously, they were interested before I moved from Crawley to Peterborough and when I got the call I was very happy.
"I’m not too sure how far it went but I know there was a big interest from Ipswich at the time. I left it with my agent and the staff at Crawley so I’m not sure how far down the line it went.”
Barnett was ineligible to play in Town’s home clash with Posh at the weekend but there was no more interested onlooker as the teams drew 1-1 at Portman Road.
He added: "I watched the game on Saturday and it was very interesting. It would have been nice to play but obviously I wasn’t allowed.
"We [Ipswich] created lots more chances in the second half and maybe we should have nicked the win. But overall a 1-1 draw might have been satisfactory after the 6-0 defeat at Leicester.
"As a striker you want lots of balls into the box and it was nice to see them get it in there. Getting the ball in there gives you a chance to score goals.”
Despite Barnett’s meagre return this term he is confident he can start finding the net on a regular basis to help Ipswich climb away from trouble.
He said: "I haven’t been scoring the goals that a striker needs to be scoring. I feel like I’ve been playing well in games but just not scoring. Hopefully I can change that while I’m here.
"I’m fairly confident. I just need to get a few more games under my belt and get to know the lads a bit better. I’m confident in my ability. It has got me this far and I think I can go further in the game.
"I want to play as many games as I can while I’m here and hopefully prove myself at this level. I can’t wait to get started.”