Alan Judge admits to being taken aback by the positive mood in the Town camp when he arrived from Brentford earlier this week.
Dublin-born Judge said: "I can’t believe how positive it is around the place. I’m really surprised because it’s not the atmosphere of a team that’s down the bottom of the league.
"I played on loan at Plymouth and we had it twice — we survived the first time and the second year we got relegated. It’s totally different here and that’s a good thing. There’s a bit of togetherness here.”
Judge is expected to make his debut on Saturday when the Blues head for his first club, Blackburn Rovers, who are now managed by ex-Town captain, coach and caretaker-manager Tony Mowbray.
They are settling in well in the Championship after their promotion from League One last year, currently sitting in 14th place but just six points adrift of the play-off places.
Following last week’s 1-0 home victory over relegation rivals Rotherham the Blues are looking to make it back-to-back wins for the first time, not only this season but since February last year when Mick McCarthy was still the man in charge.
Judge added: "I was in Manchester last week and I watched a bit of the Rotherham game on my laptop. I know you want to win games pretty but the way the lads defended in the second half was brilliant and sometimes that’s a better way to win a game. Every game is a big game now so we’re looking forward to Saturday.
"Blackburn are the team that gave me my chance. They brought me over from Ireland when I was 15 and I was there until I was 21.
"I owe them a lot and I went back a second time, which didn’t work for one reason or another.
"The manager at the time liked other players so I went off to join Brentford. But Blackburn will always be a club very close to me, to be honest.
"I had three very good years at Brentford and we were promoted to the Championship.
"We got to the play-offs the following season and then I had a good individual year after that. There were many good times and plenty of good people there too.”
Judge may be known for his skill as a midfielder, rather than as a prolific marksman, but in the 2015/16 campaign he had netted 14 times before a serious injury sustained in a clash with Luke Hyam at Portman Road ruled him out of action for the best part of two years.
"I’ve always managed to get a few goals but obviously that season was special,” he recalled. "But whether I’m scoring them or making them I don’t mind.”
A fit-again Judge could be just what McCarthy is looking for after his return to the role of managing the Republic of Ireland. The player added: "It’s up to me because I have to perform. The first two or three weeks might be about getting my sharpness back but then I have to really get going.
"There’s always something to prove in this game. People are always going to want to doubt you and when you’re not playing as much as you’d want you even doubt yourself a little bit. Proving it to yourself is always the most important thing.”
Asked if his game had changed following a lengthy lay-off Judge laughed: "I wouldn’t know because I haven’t started that many games. I’ve been asked to play a different position at Brentford.
"I used to be the number ten but they were asking me to play as a winger. Now I’m not a winger but when the manager asks you to do a job you play in that position, so I did.
"I want to play as a number ten again and I think I’ll probably need to be a little bit smarter and get into positions a little bit quicker and stuff like that.
"Time will tell really. I’m only a year back in but my stats don’t show that I’m any slower or anything like that.
"That’s a good thing and I’m always one to look into the stats — distance covered and things like that. The more games I play, the sharper I’m going to get.
"I was back playing a year ago but I don’t think I actually started a game until March. I feel physically good and I’ve been taking a lot of hits. There’s no problem there.
"The game’s so quick that you don’t have time to think. You just get straight into it and that’s the best thing about it. The less you know about it the better.”