Town defender Jonas Knudsen is out to make it three goals in as many games against Norwich when they visit Portman Road on Sunday for the eagerly-awaited latest instalment of the East Anglian derby.
The 25-year-old Dane has only netted three times in 92 appearances since arriving from Esbjerg in 2015 — but his most recent two came against the Canaries in last season’s home and away clashes when he received his first taste of the fixture.
It would be an amazing feat if Knudsen could complete a unique hat-trick but he’s not ruling it out. "If I’m playing, yes, there’s a chance,” he said.
"Let’s just wait and see but if there’s an opportunity to shoot or get into the box on the end of something I’ll definitely go for it. There’s something about this game and me, so why not?
"I would love it to be the winner this time — beating Norwich would be brilliant. I’ve heard about how long it has been since Ipswich won this fixture so let’s do it on Sunday.
"But it’s not all about me and whether I can score again — the main thing is that we win the game and I’ll take that all day long. Then I’ll celebrate with the fans afterwards.”
Town’s long wait for a derby triumph goes back to April 2009, when Jim Magilton guided his team to a 3-2 win. Current keeper Bartosz Bialkowski, then on loan from Southampton, was on the home bench and ex-Blues striker Alan Lee, now the club’s U18 coach, was in the visitors’ line-up on loan from Crystal Palace.
Since then the sides have met on eight occasions, with Norwich winning five and the other three drawn, and Knudsen was asked how confident he was that he would be on the winning side at the weekend.
He responded: "I’m 100 per cent sure we can win the game. We had a great start to the season and a great result against Sunderland.
"We have played some decent football as well and in the games we have lost, like Bristol City and Sheffield United, we could have done better. We maybe weren’t at our best but we still had chances to get something from these games.
"It has been a long time since Ipswich beat Norwich and we want to do it for the fans. It would mean so much to them. We are not far away from the top six, which is where we want to be, and a win on Sunday would put us right back up there with some important games to come.
"The last few weeks haven’t been the best but we showed with the way we started the season what we are capable of doing. We need to get another good run going now, so let’s start on Sunday.
"It’s going to be a big game again. Last year at home it was my first derby and it was a fantastic feeling. I love it and you can see I love the passion of the occasion, the way it affects everyone who is involved.
"I didn’t really know beforehand just how big a game it was but after my first goal at Portman Road I certainly knew. It was fantastic and such a brilliant atmosphere. The gaffer talked about it before the away game at Carrow Road and I went and scored again!
"Wow, what a feeling it was and I went straight to where our fans were to share the moment with them. Hopefully I can do it again on Sunday — three in a row, that wouldn’t be bad, would it?”
Knudsen admitted that when he meets supporters his goals against Norwich always dominate the conversation.
He added: "I noticed it after the first goal and then more so when I scored the second. Someone even called me the Norwich killer or something like that — it was quite nice. You have to enjoy moments like that because it is about the power of the game and what it means to people.
"There was even a time in Denmark when someone came up to me and said ‘You scored two goals against Norwich’. I asked him how he knew about it and he said ‘Because I follow it — are you going to do it again next year?’
"It was strange because I didn’t expect it to happen back home. In Ipswich, yes, I am used to it, but I was shocked to be talking about it in Denmark. It just shows what the game means to the fans.”