Town loanee Callum Connolly is delighted with the progress he has made this season and is looking to develop further during the remaining weeks of the campaign.
Connolly, 20, has started all bar one of the Blues’ last 21 games, holding down a midfield berth to underline his versatility after arriving from Everton on transfer deadline day in August having played most of his previous football in the role of defender.
The young Scouser has made a total of 24 appearances, of which only two have been as a substitute, coincidentally the home and away games against Cardiff, and scored three goals, all of them coming in the space of just four games towards the end of 2017.
Connolly, a member of the England squad that won the FIFA U20 World Cup last summer, believes his temporary switch to Portman Road has been a significant step in the right direction, although he still doesn’t know where his future might lie.
Under contract at Everton until 2019, he was asked about the possibility of signing permanently for Ipswich and replied: "One thing I’ve learned is that anything can happen in football and you can’t rule out any possibility. Right now, I don’t know what is going to happen at the end of the season.
"But if Ipswich wanted me and Everton were prepared to let me move on I wouldn’t rule it out. I’m a very long way from home in Ipswich but the longer I’m here the more at home I feel.
"For now, though, it’s just about enjoying my football and pushing the boundaries to be the best I can be.
"I’ve had contact with Everton and I want to kick on between now and the end of the season, and then see what happens. I suppose anything can happen.
"I haven’t heard a great deal from the Everton end. I think they are just letting me play and gain experience.
"I’m in a man’s world now and learning the game on my own. I suppose you could call it character building as much as anything else because I haven’t got my family around me and I’m not speaking to Everton people all the time, which I would be if I was at Goodison.
"It can be tough in a way but being here at Ipswich is helping me as a player and a person. I feel I’m developing as a player and growing up as a person at the same time.
"It’s not easy when you move a long way from home. I can’t just nip home because it’s four and a half or five hours in the car, so I haven’t been home much at all.
"But I feel this is a move I needed to make in my career, coming out of my comfort zone if you like.
"I’m pushing the boundaries and I won’t deny it’s been tough at times. At the same time, though, I’m relishing it and I feel the effect it has had has been positive.
"I’m playing regularly and I’m enjoying it, but you need to get the balance right with what you do on and off the pitch.
"It’s just about being professional so I make sure I eat well and sleep well, and I prepare properly for all the games.
"I take it very seriously and some of the other lads have commented about how I seem to have an old head on young shoulders. To be fair, I think that might be because I prefer the music from the 80s and 90s!
"Seriously, though, I see all the stuff you do off the pitch as an important part of being a footballer.
"I’m sure there are plenty of lads out there who would tell you it’s tough, especially when you are playing Saturday and Tuesday a lot of the time, but if you’re a footballer you want to be fully involved like that and play as many games as you can.
"Anyway, all players prefer playing to training so two or three games a week is fine by me.
"I am learning from the players around me and my aim is still to play in the Premier League, whether it’s with Everton or another club. That’s what I am working towards in the future.
"I want to make every game count, put in the best performances I can and be a better player for the experience I am gaining all the time I’m here.”
Connolly praised midfield partner Cole Skuse for his influence but has ignored his vastly more experienced colleague’s advice to change his hairstyle, Town’s vice-captain claiming earlier in the season: "I’ve told him umpteen times to get his hair cut — that fringe is horrendous.”
But the young Liverpudlian laughed: "I’m setting my own standards with my hair. I know it needs work but I’m looking to set my own trend.
"I took Skusey’s remarks on the chin — it’s just banter but it’s also an important part of being a footballer. I love all that to be fair.”
Skuse will be making his 200th appearance for Town at Hillsborough tomorrow and Connolly added: "He’s a very experienced player and a good lad off the pitch as well. I get on well with him. He has a real presence in the team and while he’s been around football a long time I’m still learning the game.
"I’m learning from him, both in games and in training when I’m picking up little bits and pieces all the time. But he’s wasting his time trying to get me to change my hair.”