Town defender Adam Webster has praised the club’s decision to hand skipper Luke Chambers a new two-year contract, the 31-year-old having put pen to paper on his new deal this morning.
Chambers returns to former club Nottingham Forest this weekend after coming close to rejoining them in the January transfer window, later speaking about the frustration of having heard nothing from the club about their future plans for him.
Webster, fit again after surgery in January to repair ruptured ankle ligaments, said: "It’s definitely the right decision. Chambo is the life and soul of the club so I felt it was vital that he got a new deal and we’re all delighted for him.
What makes Chambers such a good captain? "It’s how he is around the place, both on and off the pitch,” added Webster. "He’s played a lot of games over the past five years — I think he’s played the most Championship minutes in that time — and when it comes to off the pitch he’s always there for you. If you need anything Chambo is there to help. He’s brilliant for us lads.”
Chambers, so often forced to operate at right-back but impressive since being switched to his favourite role at the heart of the defence after Webster’s enforced absence, is only of several experienced defenders credited with playing a part in Webster’s progress after stepping up two levels from Portsmouth last summer.
Webster admitted: "We have four or five very good centre-halves at the club and they have all played a lot of games, so it’s definitely a good learning curve for me.
"The switch to three at the back has worked well for the team and we had the addition of the new players in January so we started playing it quite a lot. I definitely think I could fit into that system well.
"If I don’t get some minutes at Forest on Sunday it will be all about next season for me. I’ll be looking to play as many games as I can. I just need to have a good pre-season and take it from there.
"We are going to give it our all again and hopefully next season will be a positive one. I haven’t played at the City Ground before but I was on the bench there for Portsmouth a few years ago.”
Webster’s appearances — he made 23 in all competitions before being crocked — showed him to be a calm, assured defender but with the added attribute of being able to step out from the back and launch attacks with his forward-thinking approach, something he was keen to confirm that manager Mick McCarthy has given him the thumbs-up to do.
He said: "First and foremost I’m a central defender so that’s my job. But if I’m on the ball during a game and it opens up for me I like to step in and try to make something happen. I like to bring that to my game.
"When I first came here the manager was always telling me to do it but it’s about picking when to do it and when not to do it. That’s what I’ve got to learn, when I can and when I can’t, because obviously it’s not going to happen every time. In the away games I played it seemed to happen a bit more.”
Meanwhile, if there is a silver lining to a season of frustration for Webster it has come in the shape of his former club Portsmouth being promoted from League Two and as things stand they still have a chance of being crowned champions going into tomorrow’s home clash with lowly Cheltenham.
Webster said: "It’s great for the club and it’s been a long time coming to be fair. I’ve watched them a few times this year and they’ve been very good every time. I still have a few mates down there and I’m delighted for them all.
"When we’ve had international breaks I’ve seen them and because I was injured when they played Colchester I went along to seem that one. They were very good that day [winning 4-0].”