James Wilson believes the peace of mind that has come from agreeing to extend his stay at Portman Road for a further 18 months will benefit both him and the club.
The 30-year-old central defender arrived in the summer on trial, having left League Two champions Lincoln City by mutual consent, and was determined to make the best of the opportunity.
Now, after initially impressing sufficiently to earn a short-term deal through to the end of the year, Wilson’s consistent displays have been rewarded with a brand new deal that commits him to the club until the summer of 2021, with Town also having an option to extend it for a further 12 months should they wish to do so.
Wilson said: "It has given me peace of mind, which is the main thing for me. I can settle down with my family and enjoy Ipswich and the surrounding area a bit more.
"It was a bit unsettling just to have a deal through to the end of the year, although it also provided the motivation to do well and continue to improve in the hope that I might be able to stay around for a bit longer.
"Until this week I had no idea where I was going to be at the start of next year. The January transfer window is always a difficult time for players, especially if you are looking for a new club, so to have signed for an additional 18 months is great for me and my family.
"We literally only started talking about a new contract a few days ago. It all came about very quickly and as soon as we started talking I just wanted to get it all sorted as soon as I could, so I couldn’t be happier with the way things have turned out.”
It was reported recently that League One rivals Portsmouth and Sunderland were monitoring Wilson’s situation but he added: "I didn’t speak to anyone else because I wanted to stay here. I have been enjoying it so much over the past few months that there was no reason why I would want to leave, so as soon as we started talking about a new deal I just wanted to get it over the line.”
Until the midweek home defeat by Rotherham, the Newport-born Welsh international had clocked up a magnificent seven wins from his seven league outings and he continued: "I didn’t actually know that until someone pointed it out to me. It’s not something I’d been keeping a track of, really, but we were all gutted on Wednesday.
"I didn’t play at Accrington last weekend but we’ve obviously lost two on the trot now.
"We’re concerned about the way we played in those games, definitely, but I don’t think it’s a long-term concern.
"There’s stuff we have to work on — and we will do — but I wouldn’t say there’s an immediate concern.
"I’ve been really pleased, personally, with the start to the season, but everyone here has made it so easy for me since I first arrived at the club. I would have to say that’s the main reason behind my form.
"Maybe on the outside people are surprised that I’ve played so much, but I came here to play so I’m not really surprised.
"I’m really happy the way things have worked out. I came here to back myself as a player and it has gone well so far and we just need to keep going.”
Town head to second-bottom Southend — just one win and two draws from their 14 league games to date — tomorrow and although their latest setback came in the shape of a 7-1 home defeat by Doncaster on Tuesday, when they also had two players red-carded, this will be their first game with new manager Sol Campbell in charge.
He will have ex-Town favourite Hermann Hreidarsson as his assistant as they seek to inflict a third successive defeat on Paul Lambert’s team, who are only second to league leaders Peterborough on goal difference and still have a game in hand.
Looking ahead to the Roots Hall fixture, Wilson added: "It’s really important but, let’s face it, every game is important. I know what people are saying — they’ve got a new man in charge so they’re talking about new manager bounce — but we’ve got to bounce back ourselves after two defeats. We’re definitely up for it.
"We had a meeting with everybody involved and we’ve gone through all the things we need to work on, things we need to change, stuff like that. Hopefully we can put that into action at Southend.
"We don’t want to get too down after the defeats to Accrington and Rotherham because we never get too high about the fact that we had an 11-game unbeaten record when we were sitting at the top.
"It’s just about keeping a level head, definitely. It would have been great to have won those two games and we’d have a six-point cushion at the top but we’ve still got plenty of time left to achieve what we want to achieve this season.”