Luke Chambers believes Town new boy Leon Best — set to make his full debut against Brighton at Portman Road tonight — can plug the gap caused by Daryl Murphy’s move to Newcastle in the summer transfer window.
Best, who has made two substitute appearances since signing a contract through to the end of the season with an option for a further season, will be in from the start to again replace the injured Brett Pitman, who was forced off in the first half of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Leeds.
Chambers said: "I think Leon can establish himself here. He did it at Rotherham last season, in a team that was struggling massively.
"They weren’t the best team in the league but he played under Neil Warnock and I think they went 11 games unbeaten to stay up. That shows you what he’s capable of doing.
"He’s played in this division, he’s played in the Premier League and he’s scored goals. He just needs to find himself a home and be appreciated. All he has to do is do what the gaffer asks him to do. If he does that I imagine he’ll play most weeks because he’s got all the attributes and abilities.
"He talks the right game — he’s got a lot of tactical knowledge if you listen to him — and it’s about him going out and really taking this opportunity. He’s earned it, having come in on trial, so it’s down to him.
"If we can give him the service he’s certainly not shy and if there’s a ball to be won he’ll go and absolutely smash someone. It’s always nice to see when you have someone like that on your team.
"I’ve known Leon for quite a few years now — he’s a Nottingham lad — and he’s always had a lot to say for himself. He came in here like he knew everyone and has settled in fine.
"I’ve always said this is an easy place to settle in but even if it wasn’t he’d soon settle in fine. He’s a good lad and good to have around the place. Now it’s his opportunity to stake a claim and be the main man for us.
"If Murph was fit Murph played. He had that amazing season, which he thoroughly deserved and worked his socks off for.
"It didn’t work out for him last year in terms of the amount of goals he scored but we finished one place outside the play-offs. He got 10 goals, Pits got 11 and he was a massive part of what we achieved.
"If we were playing it long he would generally make it stick for us. It’s definitely a time of adjustment but Leon didn’t come in to specifically replace Murph because we were looking right up to deadline day to sign another striker but that didn’t work out for whatever reason.
"It’s a massive opportunity for him because we’ve lost Murph, McGoldrick’s not been fit for a while — hopefully he’ll be back as soon as possible, I don’t think he’s too far away — and he’s got a bit of camaraderie with Didzy after they grew up together.
"The fact that it’s a period of adjustment isn’t an excuse for us to not perform and not play well. We know what our game plan is and we need to implement it.
"When a team sits off us we can’t put it on top of them because they’re just going to eat it up like Leeds did on Saturday. We’ve got to have a bit more nous out on the pitch to play a bit more and try to create a different plan.”