Town keeper Tomas Holy is happy to credit central defenders Toto Nsiala and James Wilson with a large chunk of the praise for the team’s encouraging start to the new season.
Three wins without a goal being conceded were followed by last week’s hard-fought 1-1 draw at MK Dons, which leaves Town third in League One ahead of tomorrow’s clash at Bloomfield Road against a Blackpool side sitting third bottom and with nine points fewer.
Asked about the contribution of the pair, both of whom have started all four league games so far, Holy responded: "Hopefully, this isn’t going to be rude from me, but Toto is like a big, massive wall. He had a difficult time last season but now he is like someone else.
"How many shots has he stopped and how many tackles has he won? I said to him ‘Who are you? You are not the Toto from last year?’
"The other guy with him, Willo, is the same and I said to him ‘What is happening here?’ We are like a different team and to be honest, it is so exciting that I can hardly wait for the next game. I am really enjoying how the boys are playing.”
Holy turned his attention to the absence of supporters and added: "Of course it is strange but I guess it is the same for everyone. Since I came to Ipswich this is the biggest thing to happen in football.
"When we score a goal it is like ‘Yoo-hoo, we’ve scored a goal’ instead of the explosion of emotion that you would normally get. That’s what I really miss.
"But I always try to find a positive and maybe the pressure is not so high as it is with people in the stands.
"Also, at least the boys in front of me can hear me clearly and I don’t have to shout too much. That means my voice is okay and I can also talk immediately after the game and in the coach on the way home from an away game.
"But it is what it is and there’s no point thinking about it. I don’t have the power to change it.
"I don’t think it affects my concentration that there are no supporters behind my goal. If there were spectators they would help to keep me focused and in the game.
"They keep us alive much more than if they are not in the stands but the emotions, the pressure, stuff like that, are not really affected.”
Town will be hoping tomorrow’s trip to the seaside goes better than it did last season, the Tangerines netting a late winner in February to take all three points courtesy of substitute Joe Nuttall after Freddie Sears scored soon after the break to cancel out the home side’s first-half opener from Leicester loanee Kieran Dewsbury-Hall.
It was a game Town would have been disappointed to draw, never mind lose, but Holy admitted: "To be honest I don’t specifically remember the game. But if they scored a winner right at the end I guess it was really disappointing.
"Unfortunately, last season, there were a lot of games where we were disappointed. But I feel we are a completely different team from last season and I guess everyone can see it.
"I feel absolutely different — more confident — and if we can keep performing like we did in the last four games I think we should be fine tomorrow.”