Josh Emmanuel has revealed that he owes his move to Town to a painful knee condition that has blighted many a young player through the years.
He recalled: "I started at West Ham when I was very young — maybe about six years old. I’ve always loved football and I’ve been playing for as long as I can recall. When I left West Ham there was a mixture of emotions to be fair.
"I suffered from Osgood-Schlatter disease — growing pains basically — and it did affect me quite badly at the time.
"I think I did a lot of growing in a relatively short space of time and even now I’ve still got lumps in both knees.
"I got it in what was my last season with West Ham and they made it clear that I only had a certain amount of time in which to prove myself if I wanted to remain there.
"My Dad wasn’t happy and took me out of the club and then Ipswich came along.
"I wasn’t a West Ham fan — my team has always been Arsenal and I’ve been to the Emirates a few times.
"Hopefully I’ll be going there a lot more in the future. I’m talking about going back to play there and at Old Trafford — in fact all the big grounds.
"That’s my main focus and it should be everyone’s focus, to play at the highest level. It drives me forward every day. For me it’s about setting new challenges, new goals — that’s my vision.
"I can’t really remember too clearly about the actual circumstances that led to me joining Ipswich. As I recall I was asked to come in and train, I enjoyed it and I’ve never really left.”
The young defender’s middle name is Oluwadurotimi and he added: "It’s Nigerian but I’ve never been to Nigeria yet. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to go over there next summer. But I’m not looking to play for them — I’m English and I want to play for England.”
A week before signing his first professional contract, Emmanuel made his senior debut on the opening day of last season in a 2-2 draw at Brentford, and he went on to add a further six appearances later in the campaign. He took his tally of senior outings to nine in the midweek goalless draw at home to Brighton.
He also played twice for Crawley during a loan spell there last season and said: "That spell at Crawley was a big help to me. It was a completely new environment, a different way of doing things, and I learned a lot.
"But I wasn’t necessarily looking at another loan move because I’d rather stay here and do all I can to progress as an Ipswich player.
"When I made my debut last year at Brentford I wasn’t nervous. I’m a Christian so I always believe that God is with me and I don’t get nervous.
"I see football as an opportunity for me to go higher and not only enhance my own life but also that of my family.
"I express my faith and in terms of my career I see this as just the beginning. I just have to make sure I keep working and improving if I’ll going to progress my career.
"I learned a lot last season. The cup game against Manchester United at Old Trafford was a great experience I’ll never forget.
"I remember looking up before the start of the game and seeing all the faces in the crowd. It was difficult to take in the sheer scale of the place.
"It was extra special to see so many big names on the team sheet and then line up against them but to be honest I was disappointed that Memphis [Depay] wasn’t playing as that would have been a good test. But I still enjoyed the occasion.
"Now that I’m back in the side I’m looking to push on and play as many games as I can. It was a great performance from the lads against Brighton on Tuesday.
"I enjoyed it and I always enjoy playing in front of the fans at Portman Road, so it was a good experience all round.
"I’m looking forward to the game against Huddersfield on Saturday and I just want to put a run of appearances together.
"My contract is due to expire next summer [although there is an option for it to be extended for a further year], but I’m not thinking about that at the moment.
"The only thing I can do is to play well when I’m out on the pitch and hope that the club wants to keep me.”