Gwion Edwards is hoping his recent appearances off the bench, including his scoring contribution against Reading last weekend, will earn him a place in the starting line-up when Town travel to take on promotion-chasing West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Edwards, 26, was a second-half replacement in the home draw with Stoke, only for the last 10 minutes, but against both Wigan and Reading he was involved for the entire second half and would like nothing more than to make his first league start of 2019 at The Hawthorns.
He said: "I hope I have done enough to start at West Brom but we’ll see what team the gaffer selects.
"If I’m starting I will be out there giving 100 per cent, but if I come on at half-time or whenever it is I’m also going to be ready to go.
"Whatever it is, 10 minutes or 45 minutes, as soon as you get on the pitch, whether it’s me or anyone else, you want to do well for your team, plus for yourself, and try to win the game or change the game in some way.”
Town’s difficult — some would say impossible — task to survive certainly doesn’t get any easier. After Saturday’s trip to face the Baggies they are on the road again next Tuesday to take on Bristol City and then it’s Nottingham Forest at Portman Road on Saturday week.
Edwards added: "Yes, it’s a tough programme, but the boys have had that their whole careers so it’s nothing new. We’ll fight on Saturday, hopefully get all three points, and recover before we go again at Bristol.
"I know West Brom lost 4-0 at Leeds last week but they are a good side. They came down from the Premier League last year and they are still a top club with a lot of top players.
"It will be a tough game but there’s no reason why we can’t go there, and then Bristol, and bring back some points.
"It’s quite tight at the top of the Championship with a few teams going for promotion. It will be interesting to see how it ends up — who goes up automatically and who ends up in the play-off spots.”
The worst case scenario for Town, of course, is that they are relegated to League One, but with that being familiar territory for ex-Peterborough winger Edwards and several other players introduced last summer by ex-boss Paul Hurst, would that mean they will be well equipped to mount a third tier promotion challenge?
"We’re still hoping we can turn things round and stay up but if Ipswich are in League One next season they will be one of the biggest teams in there.
"It’s like last season when Sunderland, another big team, went down and over the years quite a few big teams have gone down.
"Quite a few of us — not just the lads who came in last year — have experience of League One. But we are still looking at staying up, even though we know it’s a difficult task because we have a tough run-in.
"There are points to play for, though, so we need to get out there, fight for them and start building to turn things around.”
Edwards looked back on his first season in the Championship and although he arrived with a reputation for operating on the left flank, with a tendency to cut in on his preferred right foot, he has consistently been used on the right.
He said: "That’s just the way it has worked out really. I can play on the right and don’t mind playing on the right but it’s true that I’ve played on the left most of my career.
"All my previous managers seemed to play me there but I’m happy enough on the right. If I’m asked to switch to the left I’ll be happy to do that as well.
"I’m sure the gaffer is aware I can play on either side. But even if you start on the right it doesn’t mean you have to stay there because you are always looking to pick up pockets of space.
"I’ve done well playing on the right and at the end of the day it’s about being in the team and playing.
"The way I look it is that I’m a winger and I’m happy to play on either wing. You’ve got to be open to playing where the manager wants you to play and where he thinks you can be of most value to the team.
"I can play further forward too but I’ve also played wing-back before in my career, at my previous club Peterborough for example.
"If I’m thrown in there, or in midfield or further forward as one of three up front, I don’t mind. I’m ready to do a job in whatever position I play.
"I actually played wing-back at Peterborough for most of the season so if the gaffer wants me to play there I’ll do my best, but it doesn’t matter where I play, or whether I start or come on, I feel ready to go and do a job for the team.”