Will Keane, who has netted once in four games since arriving on loan from Hull through to the end of the season, has praised Town boss Paul Lambert’s preferred system of play and admitted: “I think it brings out the best in me.”
Keane is one of several new faces introduced by Lambert in the January transfer window as he seeks to reshape the squad he inherited from predecessor Paul Hurst and somehow prevent the club from crashing into English football’s third tier for the first time since 1957.
One-time Manchester United youngster Keane said: "One of my best attributes is getting the ball in and around my feet and being able to link up the play. The manager’s massive on that and drills it into us all the time.
"He reminds us that we need to have the courage to get on the ball, make things happen and be creative. That’s all stuff that any striker wants to hear.
"It’s nice to be given the freedom and the opportunity to go and play. He’s great in that sense.
"I want to get to as high a level as I can in the game. You’ve got to be ambitious and aim as high as you can.
"If you don’t have big ambitions you’re probably not going to go far. I’ve seen it happen before with strikers having setbacks but if you can get on a good run there’s no reason why you can’t spring yourself back up.
"I’m still quite young at 26 and I’ve got plenty of years ahead of me, so if I can get a good run of games I don’t see why I can’t achieve things.”
Keane is adamant about his main priority, which is to help Town — currently bottom of the table and seven points plus goal difference from safety — avoid the plunge into League One and he can feel the confidence in the camp rising after recent displays at both Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa.
He added: "I think all the lads have been encouraged by the last couple of performances, even if we didn’t get the results we wanted.
"We were always in both games but certain decisions went against us and maybe our game management also cost us.
"We know we need to be better in certain areas but in general we have been involved in the games and we know that if we keep doing the right things, hopefully the results will go our way.
"All the new lads have contributed so far. For me, personally, I’ve been at Hull and witnessed their good run in recent weeks before I came here.
"I’ve had a good taste of that and I can share the experience with the lads here. I can say ‘That’s the perfect example of what we want to do’ and it shows it can be achieved if we can get a couple of wins under our belt.
"There’s James Collins, too, and he’s played at the highest level for many years. He brings massive experience, including a successful battle against relegation with West Ham a few years back when it seemed they weren’t going to survive.
"He’s a great leader, both on and off the pitch, alongside skipper Luke Chambers, and there are others, like Alan Judge and Simon Dawkins, who have been around the Championship for many years and know what it’s all about. Just to be able to pass on that knowledge to the other players helps everyone as a whole. It’s a fresh positivity that helps to rally the lads.”
Keane faces an uncertain future in the summer when his Hull contract expires and he will become a free agent. He knows the impact he can make between now and the end of the current campaign will go a long way towards deciding his fate and alerting potential employers.
"I’m open-minded about staying at Ipswich,” he emphasised. "The manager has put the belief into me and I enjoy working with him.
"I’ll have to weigh up my options in the summer and see what is available and open to me. But if the club was interested in a permanent deal I would be massively interested as well.”