Tommy Oar has realised one half of his ambition by joining Ipswich and believes it won’t be too long before he completes the package.
Ever since his childhood in Australia his aim was to play professional football in England and especially in the Premier League, of which he was an avid follower from the other side of the world courtesy of the extensive television coverage.
Oar, 23, said: "It has always been a dream of mine to play in England. In Australia everybody looks up to the Premier League and the Championship, and there have always been a number of Australian players involved in these competitions in the past.
"When the opportunity came up to join Ipswich it was something I was really excited about. Towards the end of last season I knew there was interest but the most concrete thing came a few weeks ago when I signed.
"Ipswich just missed out in the promotion play-offs last season but have had a very good start to the new season and I thought this would be the perfect place to be.”
Aussie international Oar — he has won 26 caps to date — has found his way to Portman Road via a five-year stint with Dutch club Utrecht and is likely to be on the bench at the Madejski Stadium for tonight’s live-on-Sky clash with Reading.
He added: "My target is to get to the Premier League and with that in mind joining Ipswich was a great decision for me because it is such an ambitious club and everybody here is entirely focused on trying to win promotion.
"I think it is achievable this season with Ipswich. They only narrowly missed out last season and this time round the team have started really well.
"All the signs are there that we can have a good season and really push for it. I idolised the Premier League when I was growing up and set my heart on playing in it. Coming to Ipswich is the perfect step towards make it a reality.”
Oar said his family back home would be setting their alarm clocks to tune into the game at Reading tonight, which will be kicking off at five o’clock Saturday morning their time. He laughed: "They have watched all my games from Australia, even when I was playing in Holland, so they are used to waking up in the middle of the night.
"When I was growing up I would wake up at all sorts of crazy hours to watch football. They will set the alarm — my mum, dad, two brothers and sister — but who actually watches the whole game will depend on who’s working that day.”
One game in which Oar is hoping to feature is the Capital One Cup third round trip to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday week.
He added: "That’s very exciting. When I was growing up I always watched English games and I saw a lot at Old Trafford. To have the chance to go out and play against them on their home ground is something I dreamed of as a kid.”