Town new boy Alan Judge has relived the injury nightmare that saw him sidelined for almost two years after suffering a double leg fracture in action for former club Brentford at Portman Road in April 2016.
The Bees won 3-1 that day but lost the services of key man Judge after he came off second best in a first-half challenge from then Town midfielder Luke Hyam, now with Southend, who was cautioned and later dismissed for a second bookable offence before the interval.
Judge said: "It was a tib-fib double break with a few little mini-breaks in between. I was in Ipswich Hospital for four or five hours but my agent at the time, who was up north somewhere, drove straight down and they were saying they had to transfer me to London.
"My agent went to a shop and bought a load of pillows and put me in the back of his car. He wouldn’t wait for an ambulance and decided to do it himself. I was well medicated thankfully!”
Following this week’s transfer Judge has met up with several members of Town’s medical staff who helped to look after him on the day he was crocked. "I’m seeing them properly now,” he said, "because I wasn’t really with it back then.
"I had messages from all over the place — Brentford fans, Ipswich fans and players, including some I’d never even played within the league.
"I had an operation that was completely fine but I was laid up in bed for two weeks and couldn’t move. Plus, one of the hardest things was that my missus was looking after our two kids on her own. I couldn’t help her because I couldn’t move.
"But members of my family came over from Ireland to help out and that was a plus because I got to see a lot of my family, which a lot of footballers don’t get to do.
"There was a period of about 18 or 19 months when I saw a lot of them. Now that things are back to normal I think my wife’s had enough of me. She says I annoy her enough!
"In all seriousness I think I put the injury behind me quite quickly. I’m revisiting it now but if I had kept dwelling on it I would never have moved on. It happened here but Ipswich didn’t injure me and that’s how I looked at it.”
It could hardly have happened at a worse time for the diminutive midfielder. "It came soon after I had made my debut for Ireland and it seemed everything had happened at once,” he remembered.
"A few days earlier I had agreed to join a Premier League club in the summer so that didn’t go ahead. I don’t think it’s right to name the club but it wasn’t Newcastle, who had been linked with me at one point.”
Asked if being on the sidelines so long had changed his perception of football, Judge responded: "Not really. I’ve always played every game as if it was my last. What happened to me has happened to a lot of players and I’ve always wanted to go out and enjoy what I’m doing. There’s no point in playing football being angry — you should be playing with a smile on your face.”
Judge is convinced he has made the right move in joining Town, despite their position at the bottom of the table and the fact that they are in grave danger of being relegated to English football’s third tier for the first time since 1957 when Alf Ramsey — later Sir Alf after his England side won the World Cup in 1966 — was manager.
He added: "I was impressed by how the manager spoke and how much he wanted me. I also spoke to some of his former players and they all said how good he was to work with. He was enthusiastic when I spoke to him on the phone and he understood the situation with my family living over in London etc.
"To be honest with you it was an easy enough decision. People will say Ipswich are at the bottom of the league but that doesn’t bother me. You want to prove yourself and why not do it when it’s probably going to be hard. Anyway, I love a challenge.
"I could have gone to a club sitting way higher in the league, been comfortable and finished the season easily. But I do like challenges. My biggest one was to get through the injury so now I’ll just enjoy every single minute I have out on the pitch.
What is Judge likely to do if the worst happens and Town are going to be playing in League One next season? His short-term deal expires in the summer but there is an option of another year. "That’s down to me and how I play,” he said.
"I’m not really sure [how the option works]. I’ll have to speak to my agent a bit more on that but I think it’s more in the club’s favour. I think it’s a bit of both really. I think it’s a reasonable one really.”