Kane Vincent-Young believes his goal against Tranmere last weekend — Town’s fourth in a 4-1 home success — was one of the best of his career so far and hopes there will be many more to celebrate in the future.
It was special to the ex-Colchester player, who cost £500,000 late in the summer transfer window, for two reasons — it was his first at Portman Road and the first he has scored courtesy of his left foot.
Now, having also scored the only goal at Gillingham in Town’s previous game, he is making the long journey north to Fleetwood bidding to make it three goals in as many games on Saturday, which would be some feat for a player who might have started out as a striker with Tottenham but has been operating as a full-back or wing-back ever since.
Vincent-Young, 23, said: "The goal against Tranmere is up there as one of my best — I’d put it in the top three.
"It was a great feeling to score in front of that many people because I’d never done that before and because it was my first goal at Portman Road. The atmosphere at the ground has been unbelievable since I arrived at the club.
"I only had one thing on my mind when I raced forward and got to the edge of the area and that was to shoot.
"The strikers might not have been that happy but they had to live with it.
"It was my very first goal with my left foot — hopefully the first of many. To make it three out of three isn’t going to be easy but if I manage to achieve it I’ll have to buy myself a present.”
Not surprisingly, Vincent-Young is thrilled with the way his move along the A12 has worked out and he added: "Everything is going really well and it’s been great. I’m delighted with it but at the same time I know it’s still early doors and there is still a lot of work to do.
"I’ve got a lot of learning to do and hopefully I can continue what I’ve been doing.
"Hopefully there is still a lot to come. It’s still early days and I just want to continue along the same lines and maintain the consistency.
"I hope there are plenty of other good performances to come. The way training is, the way the games are, I’ve had to raise my level to make sure I’m doing well so I’d like to think there is more improvement to come.”
The only negative in Town’s display against Tranmere was that they were unable to keep a sixth consecutive league clean sheet, which would have meant a new club record.
But Vincent-Young said: "It wasn’t great but you’re going to concede a goal at some stage, aren’t you? It’s a long season and the goal is going to come at some point.
"But the main thing about last weekend was the way we responded to that. The reaction of the players was brilliant and the result was brilliant as well.
"It’s nice to look at the table and see us on the top. Everybody wants to be top of the league but at the same time we must remember it’s still early in the season with just 10 games played and another 34 to go.
"We just have to take it game by game and not get ahead of ourselves. Nobody is taking anything for granted.
"It would be brilliant if we go up. I think the aim of big clubs coming down is to bounce straight back and win promotion. It’s not easy so for us to do that so it would be a great achievement. Everybody wants to win things, don’t they?
"Everybody wants to finish in first place, so if we continue what we’re doing, hopefully that will take care of itself. But we have to take it game by game and focus on getting three points whoever we’re playing.
"From a personal point of view I’m ambitious and want to do the best that I can, both for the club and myself. That’s just natural.”
Vincent-Young has demonstrated his flair for different roles within the team, switching between an orthodox role as a right-back and as a wing-back when manager Paul Lambert has opted for a back three.
"We played with wing-backs at Gillingham,” he continued, "and the gaffer said that when one wing-back has it the other one has to make the back post. Kayden put a great ball in and it literally fell on my head — I couldn’t miss it.
"I can’t honestly say I’ve always done that when I’ve been operating as a wing-back.
"I’ve more, kind of, got to the edge of the box but we’re a more aggressive and offensive side.
"It’s great for the team that the goals are coming from all over the pitch, whether it’s the full-backs, strikers or the centre-backs.
"The way we play it gives our full-backs a licence to get forward and into dangerous positions to score the goals that Garbs [Luke Garbutt] and I have been doing.
"It’s okay when the system changes because the roles are not really that much different. You’ve got the same players around you and the gaffer makes it very clear what he wants from you.
"As long as you follow the instructions you’ll be fine. We’ve got that adaptability as a team so it’s not a problem.”