Town midfielder Luke Hyam has been set a six-goal target for the current campaign as part of a novel incentive scheme dreamt up by boss Mick McCarthy.
Hyam has so far netted just twice in 96 senior outings — 87 starts and nine substitute appearances — so agrees it is an ambitious tally to pursue over the remainder of the season.
McCarthy has organised a charity sweepstake with a difference, charging each of his players £100 to take part and the aim is to reach a goals target set by the Town boss.
Hyam said: "Basically, we have all been set a target for the season and mine is six. If I don’t get six the money goes to charity. The three players who miss their target by most will take the rest of out for a meal at the end of the season.
"It gives us all something to aim for and hopefully I can reach it. You’ve got to set your sights high — if not there’s no point is there?”
Hyam was considered a holding midfielder when he first made the step into the first team four years ago but McCarthy and assistant Terry Connor have been encouraging him to become a more offensive player.
It was from Hyam’s excellent pass that Daryl Murphy opened the scoring in the opening-day defeat of Fulham and he added: "I was pleased with my performance against Fulham and I feel I’ve done reasonably well in the last couple of games. It gives me a base to build upon.
"The manager and TC are always encouraging me to look forward and make forward runs. I just want to improve my game and hopefully keep putting in good performances and helping the team to get good results.
"I’m looking to improve the attacking side of my game. I feel like I’m getting better at it and that there is still a lot more to come. As long as I’m helping my colleagues and the team — it’s all based upon the team and not just me — I’m happy. The main thing is getting three points and that’s all I can ask for.
"The first couple of weeks of the season have gone reasonably well. We’re not disappointed with our start and we’ve improved on how we started last season.
"We’ve had the win against Fulham, we definitely deserved at least a point in midweek at Birmingham and I thought we deserved to take something from the game at Reading last Saturday. All in all I think we’re fairly pleased.”
Earlier in the week Hyam and his team-mates had a different target on their minds when they took part in Soccer AM's Crossbar Challenge.