Blues striker Oli Hawkins was delighted to get off the mark in Saturday’s 1-0 home victory over Crewe Alexandra and hopes it’s the first of many.
The 6ft 5in-tall frontman joined Town on a free transfer after leaving Portsmouth in the summer and played important roles in previous games but up to Saturday without finding the net.
The 28-year-old’s 62nd-minute header was enough to win a game which was far from plain sailing for the Blues against a Crewe side who will count themselves unlucky not to have taken something from the match.
"It’s great to get off the mark and hopefully there are more to come,” Hawkins said when asked about his goal, which came from an Alan Judge cross after he exchanged passes with Stephen Ward from a short corner on the left.
"In the first half everyone could see we struggled and they put it on us. They were really good and dominant.
"We knew that in the second half we had to come out and play much better and I feel like we did a little bit.
"We weren’t at our best and for a potential title-winning team, looking for promotion, we want to slog, we want to fight and we want to come out with a clean sheet and a 1-0 win.
Hawkins had come close to scoring on a number of previous games - he might have had three in the first half against Rochdale, while a header was cleared off the line at Lincoln last week - but he knew it would come eventually.
"In the last four or five games, not getting my first goal, it was a case of almost getting there but the ball not quite falling to me in the box,” he added.
"The first goal is always the hardest to get and I knew that if I just kept sticking to what I’m good at — and being at that back post — with the quality we have I would be able to score.
"My whole career I’ve been priding myself as a player sort of arriving and getting on top of the defender to try to score.
"I like any sort of cross really — front post, middle — but I will always aim to be at the back stick.
"I’m still at a fresh team and players are still realising what my strengths and weaknesses are. For me it’s about learning to play with new players. If I just keep sticking at it that’s where I’ll aim to be.”
The one-time Dagenham & Redbridge player had praise for Judge: "He’s a quality player. Quick thinking with the quick corner and when you know you’ve got quality like that coming in you make sure you’ve got to be there.”
Now he’s scored his first, will more follow? "The first goal is the pressure one so going into games and not scoring, the pressure’s gone now.
"Now I’ve scored I can still sort of try and focus on playing my game, being a real threat up there and working hard for the team.
"But knowing I’ve got a goal behind me I can sort of relax and not have to worry as much, and that’s what I’ll look to do.”
Hawkins says the role he’s being asked to play at Town varies from how he has played at his previous clubs.
"It’s different to what I’m used to,” he reflected. "We’re a real quality footballing team and there’s a lot of stuff I’ve still got to learn here. Hopefully, week in week out, I’m going to keep learning.
"I’m a striker who’s used to probably the ball coming up to my neck and my chest. Here it’s a lot to my feet and that’s what I’ll keep working on to try and better my game and help out the team in different areas.
Town are yet to concede a home goal in the league in the first five fixtures - the first time they have achieved that in the club’s history - and Hawkins says that tightness at the back will be a key element to the Blues having a successful season.
"If you want to get promotion you’ve got to make sure that your home form or your away form is strong and you don’t really concede, you don’t really lose games and that’s what we’re going to try and do,” he said.
"Obviously, at home so far this season we’ve been really good and not conceded any goals. If we can keep that form up at home we’ll have a real good chance.”
He added: "In a promotion-winning side and a team that wants to get promoted you need a big squad and players in each position.
"We’re fortunate to have [two quality] centre-halves and a couple more than aren’t even getting in the team. If we can maintain that solidity at the back and that defensive work, we’ll be alright.”
Hawkins himself played a lot of his football at Portsmouth, particularly in his final season, as a centre-half but is yet to be called on for that position since his move to Town.
"To be fair, every now and then when they’re talking about centre-halves or they’re talking about defensive things, I’m looking and thinking ‘Does he want me this time?’,” he said.
"But I’ve seen the quality we’ve got here and the number of players we’ve got and hopefully I can just focus my career on being a centre forward at Ipswich.”
Looking ahead to Tuesday and the visit to Sunderland, who are sixth, Hawkins says the game will lose some of its lustre with the Stadium Light being empty.
"Unfortunately, with no fans being there, it’s going to be a completely different game,” he said.
"But again it’s still a big team, a big stadium and we go there off the back of a win and with a bit of confidence and just knowing that we’re going there and fight.”
He says a win against the Wearsiders would be ideal preparation for next Saturday’s FA Cup first-round tie against his former club Pompey at Portman Road.
"That will really start the week off if we can get the win there heading into the FA Cup next week,” he said. "We’ll go there and we’ll fight our most to get a win there.”