Daryl Murphy believes being settled at Town has been a major factor in him producing what he regards as the best form of his entire career.
Murphy had three loan spells at Portman Road during his time at previous clubs Sunderland and Celtic, but he feels securing a permanent deal has been the key to an improvement in performance levels that has also earned him a recall to the Republic of Ireland squad.
The 31-year-old striker said: "It’s definitely a big factor because I know I’m here and that I’m going to be here for the next few years.
"That in itself just settles you more and you’re not thinking about what is going to happen at the end of the season and whether you are going to have to find another club.
"It has all fallen into place for me and I’m delighted to actually be an Ipswich Town player now and for the next few years.
"Being on loan isn’t nice — it’s unsettling for the family with the kids changing schools. You have to decide whether to keep them in the school they’re in or do you bring them down with you?
"It’s not a nice situation to be in and I think you can see that in my form now. I’m well settled in and enjoying every minute of it. I’ve no plans for anything else. I’m enjoying my football at the minute and long may it continue.
"When I was coming back on loan the last time I knew it was going to be for the season so we took them out of the school they were in up in Scotland.
"I knew my contract at Celtic was going to end but I didn’t know where I was going to be, although I was thinking that if I came here and did well enough to get a contract we could leave the kids in the same school.
"Thankfully that’s the way it worked out so things fell into place nicely and the kids are very happy. Had it not it would have been unsettling for us all.”
Murphy has already netted seven goals this season, including six in his last seven appearances, which puts him well on the way to surpassing his 13-goal tally in the 2013/14 campaign.
He added: "We all set targets at the start of the season. The gaffer wanted us to write down how many goals we were going to score and we have to make a donation to charity if we don’t reach it.
"I’m not saying what my target was — I can’t tell you that — but I obviously want to beat my total for last season and just score as many as possible. I’ve had a decent enough start.”