Bartosz Bialkowski has revealed he was surprised to be given the nod to start the season as Town’s first-choice goalkeeper.
The giant Pole ended last season as manager Mick McCarthy’s number one, having forced his way ahead of Dean Gerken since moving from Notts County in the summer of 2014.
But he said: "To be honest I didn’t expect to start the season in the first team. I came back with a clear head and determined to do my best to impress the gaffer. There is tough competition here for the first team place because Dean works very hard in training and is pushing me all the time.
"He has every right to play every week if he is picked and I know I have to stay on my toes and keep doing the best I can.
"It is up to the gaffer to decide who plays in the games and who is on the bench. I don’t read any papers, websites, forums or whatever. I just concentrate on my job.
"I was supposed to play in the pre-season game at Colchester in the midweek and Dean was supposed to play on the Saturday against Utrecht.
"But I was ill and missed the Colchester game, in which Deano played, and I was better by the time we played Utrecht so I played in that one.
"The gaffer wanted to give us two full games under our belts so that was it. On the Thursday, two days before the Brentford game, I found out I was going to start in that one.
"Dean is really supportive to me and is a great guy. He is always there for me and if things were different, if Deano was in the team, I would be exactly the same towards him.”
Bialkowski was in familiar company in Saturday’s home win over Sheffield Wednesday with three members of the back four — skipper Luke Chambers, match-winner Tommy Smith and Christophe Berra — only missing a handful of games last season.
He added: "It’s good for a goalkeeper to play behind a settled defence that he knows. We understand each other and know what to expect from each other. It’s good to know what the players right in front of you are likely to do in certain situations.
"Tommy and Christophe are two really strong centre-backs and even though Chambo is not playing in his position he is absolutely amazing.
"Jonas [Knudsen] has come in on the left and he is settling in very well. Apart from all his other attributes he has a massive throw, which is something we didn’t have before and has added to our attacking options.
"I’m also really impressed with the young guys who have played in defence this season. They have all done a fantastic job for the team and Josh [Emmanuel] did a superb job against Brentford at right-back.
"Myles [Kenlock] was my man of the match in the midweek game against Stevenage and it’s all looking good for the future.
"As a goalkeeper I am always there to pass on a few tips during games, not just to the young players but everyone in the back four. I always try to talk to them and see it as an important part of my job.”