Kane Vincent-Young has been reliving the moment in Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat at Northampton that he admits should have seen him score his first goal since returning to action following a long lay-off through injury.
After a first half in which the Cobblers scored twice and Town struck the woodwork on a couple of occasions through Gwion Edwards and Freddie Sears, the full-back had a golden opportunity to reduce the leeway within five minutes of the restart.
Kayden Jackson played the ball into the six-yard box and Vincent-Young seemed certain to score until he somehow hit the feet of home goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell as he was making his way back across goal.
Vincent-Young said today: "I don’t mind talking about it. I’ve replayed it quite a bit to be fair and I know I should have scored. I also know that if I had scored it could have been a very different game.
"I just need to keep getting into these positions, not shying away and when the next one comes along I’ll hopefully put it right.”
The former Colchester full-back netted twice for the Blues in his first six outings following his move to Portman Road in August 2019 and only appeared on the losing side once in nine games before sustaining the injury that subsequently saw him spend 17 months on the sidelines in terms of competitive games.
He added: "You have to be in there, in the right positions, to score. I’d probably prefer Nors or Kayden [Jackson] to be there but if it happens again I’ll do my job and put it away.
"I’m not scared to have a shot and now that I’m back I’m really just looking to try to make things happen for the benefit of the team.”
Asked about the hardest part of being absent for so long, Vincent-Young replied: "I’ve had a couple of setbacks along the way so I think it has been them. You work hard and you’re nearly back to where you want to be when something happens to stop your progress and you have to do it all over again.
"It’s quite a difficult situation when you have put in all the work and invested a lot of time in getting back to full fitness, and you have to take a few steps back. It can be a bit demoralising and I’m happy to have got over that hill. Hopefully it’s not something that I will have to contend with again.
"Getting my first full 90 minutes at Charlton was massive for me. It was a massive mental tick to know that I could do it. It was unbelievable that it had taken me so long but I loved being back out there. It was a lovely day and in such a nice stadium it was a great experience.”
Vincent-Young is looking forward to playing regularly over Town’s last four games of the season and is excited at the prospect of playing a leading role next term. "It’s just a case of grasping the new manager’s ideas because they are different,” he said.
"In an early session I was doing something and he wanted me to do the opposite, so it has almost been a case of unlearning to relearn. It’s about adapting, picking up the ideas and investing in what he is doing. He has done it with teams in the past and it has got him success.
"I just want to put the last year and a half behind me and make a fresh start. It’s true what players say about being injured, it’s the worst part of the game by a mile. I was out for so long that I got to know every single one of the players who had an injury during that period.
"Some have come and gone, others have had to come back for further treatment and I was there throughout it all. In particular, I got on particularly well with Tristan [Nydam] and it’s great to see him back now as well.
"Ben Morris, Jack Lankester, I could go through the entire list of injured players and name every one of them. I built some really good bonds and it all serves me well going forward.
"I wasn’t short of company, that’s for sure, and while it’s not an ideal situation for any player who is injured, at least I had some company. But I hope I’m done with longs spells out through injury.”
Meanwhile, Vincent-Young expressed his delight that former club Colchester have all but ensured their League Two survival as a result of beating Southend on Tuesday, a result that leaves the Shrimpers needing a miracle if they are to avoid dropping into the National League.
The U’s, who occupied a play-off place back in December, nosedived down the table and even with successive wins over Walsall last Saturday and Southend in midweek they have clocked up only three from their last 27 league games.
Vincent-Young added: "It was a bit too close for comfort and there were times when I was thinking ‘I don’t know which way this is going to go’. But they had two massive wins so I’m delighted for them.
"There are a lot of good people there and I’m delighted for Robbie (Cowling), the chairman, as well. I hope that is going to see them stay in the league and that they can push on next season.”
There are many supporters of the Essex club probably wondering why Cowling decided to part company with former boss John McGreal, particularly when he steered the U’s into last season’s play-offs. Coincidentally, McGreal has been spending time at Town’s training ground since his former Tranmere team-mate, Paul Cook, was appointed manager last month.
Is McGreal about to return to Ipswich in a coaching capacity? Vincent-Young said: "I had a great relationship with John at Colchester. I’ve known him since I was 18 and he was the U23 coach at the club at the time. Then I played myself into the first team and he became manager.
"He’s the manager I played for most of the time at Colchester so we always have a little catch-up when I see him at the training ground.
"He’s an Ipswich legend and a really good coach as well, and more importantly a really good guy. I have no idea if he’s going to be joining the staff but if he did I know he could contribute an awful lot.”