David McGoldrick can’t wait to sample the Portman Road atmosphere because he knows from past experience how special it can be.
The on-loan Nottingham Forest player, who will sign a two-year deal on July 1st, said: "Ipswich are a big club and I’ve played here a number of times when it has been rocking.
"There will be a good feeling when I play here. I also know Luke Chambers from my time at Forest and when I spoke to him he had only good things to say about the club and the rest of the players.
"It was time for a change and I feel excited about making a fresh start here. I’m 25 and a lot more mature as a person and a player. I know far more about the game than I did a few years back and I’ll take that into my career with Ipswich.
"There are some good strikers here so my first aim is to win a place in the side and take it from there. First and foremost I have to get into the team and then try to stay in it for as long as I can.
"Strikers need to score goals so I’ll be looking to do that and I’ll be working as hard as I can. I’m here because I rate Mick McCarthy as a manager and when someone like him, with his experience of the Premiership and international football, offers you a chance how can you not take it?
"He’s a great manager and for him to want a player like me made it an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. Mick has shown real faith in me and apart from watching me himself, he had a lot of reports on me and how I was doing on loan at Coventry.”
McGoldrick, named the League One Player of the Month for December yesterday, netted 17 times in his 26 games for the Sky Blues and added: "I went there because I’m not one of those players who can just sit around at a club. I want to be playing and when I’m not it hurts me.
"Coventry was a good move because it isn’t far from where I lived in Nottingham so I wasn’t away from my family, plus I played regularly and that enabled me to do well for them. It worked out really well for me.
"I think the fact that I was scoring on a regular basis made a few people sit up and take notice. Obviously, Mick McCarthy watched me and decided to give me a chance here. I felt I had to take it.”
Photo: ITFC