Ipswich new boy Aaron Mclean has a special reason for wanting to mark his Portman Road debut with a goal.
The on-loan Hull striker was in the starting line-up as Town travelled to Wales last weekend and held Championship leaders Cardiff to a 0-0 draw.
And he is anxious, not only to retain his place for today’s visit of lowly Barnsley, but to mark the occasion by finding the net to finally settle a long-standing bet with former partner Sapphire Main.
Mclean, 29, said: "Sapphire and her family are from Ipswich and just down the road at Claydon. We were together when I was playing non-league with Grays and when we drove past the Ipswich stadium I used to always say ‘I want to play there one day’.
"She would say ‘You’re not good enough to play there’ and I used to tell her that one day I would prove her wrong. We even struck up a bit of a bet and I think the big moment to settle it has finally arrived.”
Mclean and Sapphire have both moved on, she to live and work in London, but they remain on good terms and Mclean, who is in a new relationship, is still in touch with members of her family.
He laughed: "Obviously I progressed my career when I moved to Peterborough but even when I came to Ipswich with them and scored she still didn’t think I had proved anything.
"Even though being on loan at Ipswich shows I’m good enough to play for them, only when I score will I feel I have fully proved the point I was trying to make all those years ago.
"I’ve been desperate to win this bet for a long, long time. It’s not about money but pride. There’s no cash involved — I just want her to admit she was wrong and I was right. That will do for me.”
Mclean is also keen to impress manager Mick McCarthy, one of the main reasons why he chose Ipswich ahead of the many other Championship clubs who wanted to recruit him on a temporary basis.
He added: "Mick said to me ‘Come in, work hard, score goals and you’ll play’. I can’t ask for any more than that.”