On-loan goalkeeper Will Norris has revealed that Town striker James Norwood can’t wait for tomorrow’s return to former club Tranmere, where his goals helped the club to win successive promotions and climb from the National League to League One in the space of just two seasons.
Norwood, 29, netted 32 times for the Merseysiders last season and in the previous campaign he bagged 23 goals.
By the time he returned south to join Town last summer, having rejected Tranmere’s offer of a brand new contract, he had scored a total of 93 goals in 180 appearances in all competitions for them.
Having hit double figures last week with his goal in the 4-1 home win over Accrington Stanley, Eastbourne-born Norwood is entitled to fancy his chances of hitting the magical 20-goal mark by the end of the current campaign.
Norris said: "You can see how much Nors is looking forward to going back to Prenton Park for the first time with Ipswich. To be honest we can’t shut him up.
"He’s held in high regard up at Tranmere and I expect it’s a place very close to his heart.
"But, at the end of the day, he’s an Ipswich player and we’ve all got a job to do, which is to win and bring back the three points.
"I think they are all must-win games for us now, to be honest. We don’t go anywhere thinking a point is going to be a good result but there are a number of factors that affect it.
"You’ve got to take into account, like Tuesday night at Oxford, the conditions and how they dictated that a draw was a good result.
"We’ll go to Tranmere not expecting to take three points but quietly confident that if we play as we can we will win the game.
"I’ve heard what the pitch is like up there but what can you do? We just have to go there and try to make sure we pick up all three points.”
Town might be advised to keep the back passes to a minimum for fear of the ball literally sticking in the mud but in the on-loan Wolves keeper they have somebody who is confident with the ball at his feet.
Norris added: "I think it is one of my strengths but I think the entire goalkeeping department at the club is very strong.
"You’ve got to be comfortable with the ball at your feet if you’re talking about going to the higher levels and it’s something that you just have to accept.
"With the modern game and the systems that are becoming more and more popular, the keeper needs to be like an 11th outfield player at times and it’s something that every keeper needs to have in their armoury.”
As the man currently preferred for the first team place Norris is only too aware that his main rival, Tomas Holy, is not going to be content with being second choice. He continued: "I had to do it at the start of the season and Tomas has got to do it now.
"He’s a quality keeper and he wants to be in the team, which keeps me on my toes. The situation is the same for both of us and I think the most important thing is that when you’re not playing you have to 100 per cent support the keeper who is.
"That’s the way I’ve always been and it’s the way he’s got to be at the moment. That’s just part and parcel of having a strong goalkeeping department.
"I believe the goalkeeping department here is incredibly strong and I see both Adam [Przybek] and Harry [Wright] having very bright futures.
"Our goalkeeping coach, Jimmy Walker, has been excellent and incredibly refreshing for me personally, helping me settle here and to develop my game. He’s been brilliant. He’s larger than life and it stands the club in good stead to have him managing the goalkeepers.”