Town new boy Conor Chaplin admits manager Paul Cook was a huge factor in his decision to leave a second tier club in Barnsley and head for Portman Road.
But the diminutive attacker, who worked with Cook at first club Portsmouth, was also drawn by the club’s ambition to win promotion at the earliest opportunity, something that aligns with his own personal target.
Chaplin, 24, said: "I’ll be completely honest — I don’t think I would have dropped down a level from the Championship for anyone else, definitely not. He was definitely a big factor but also the club was a massive factor with the ambition they have.
"They want to go up and I don’t want to be playing football in this division next season. I want to give everything and get out of it this season. That’s something I’ll be working on every day to achieve.
"My relationship with the gaffer goes back a few years and it’s brilliant. We know each other really well and we know how each other work. He’s also someone, when we worked together previously, who always got the best out of me and that’s something I’m looking to build on again.
"I think it’s brilliant, the way that he works, the way that he trains. I really enjoy working under him.”
Asked what he thinks has made Cook a successful football manager, Chaplin added: "I just think, for one, he knows what he wants. He knows exactly what he wants and how he wants it done, which he portrays to the lads.
"Secondly, he absolutely loves it. He loves being on the grass every day, coaching, and he talks about football 24/7, which is something that we’ve got in common, so it’s quite easy to have a conversation. What makes him good is the players that he brings into the football club, his ambition and what he does on the grass, definitely.
"He was great for me at Fratton Park. He was the manager when I was breaking through and trying to make it as a footballer with quite a big expectation from my early days.
"He managed that really well for me and I probably didn’t realise just how well he had managed it until he left for Wigan. He was brilliant for me and probably the perfect manager at the right time in my career.”
It was from Pompey that Chaplin left to join Coventry, later making the move permanent, before he joined Barnsley two years ago.
Last season he helped the Tykes to qualify for the play-offs, where they lost to Swansea at the semi-final stage with the Town new recruit an unused substitute in both legs.
Did it come as a surprise to learn his time in Yorkshire could be coming to an end? He said: "It was all a bit up in the air to be honest but it was an opportunity I felt was a really exciting one.
"A club full of ambition, like I say, and a club that just wants to improve and make standards better, day to say in training and on the pitch on a Saturday.
"That’s something I want to be a part of. I want to be part of a winning team, a good team and I feel I have joined one.”
Chaplin’s debut on Saturday against Morecambe took his career tally of appearances in all competitions to 241, 109 of which have come from the bench, while he has scored 50 goals.
While it may have been a disappointing result, drawing 2-2 with a side playing their first-ever League One fixture, he made a key contribution with his clever return pass to Scott Fraser for Town’s first equaliser just after the hour mark.
He went on: "It was a nice little move actually, a good team goal. Scotty’s a great player as well and I’ve enjoyed the short time I’ve been with him on the pitch.
"He seems to be a player that I’ll be able to combine well with. It was good to get up and running numbers-wise and a good start.
"I think we have to be happy with a point, the way the game panned out. Obviously, we would have preferred all three points to start the season, but we have to be realistic.
"We’re a brand new team with a lot of the lads playing together for the first time in the season opener.
"There’s a lot of expectation, obviously, but in terms of being realistic we need to understand that it is going to take a few games for the players to understand each other and to gel.
"It was good, especially in the second half when we looked dangerous and were in complete control of the game.
"That’s the most frustrating thing in not coming out with the three points. When we scored the equaliser, which was a great goal, there was only one team that was going to win that game. It’s a bit frustrating but, like I said, we’ve got to give it time and be a little bit patient.”
Town are likely to add further players this week and Chaplin is convinced they are heading in the right direction. "I think it’s brilliant,” he said. "I think the ambition and the goal is clear from the club, in the signings and in terms of the strength in numbers in the squad.
"That’s what you want if you want to get promoted. You’re going to need that throughout the season because it’s a long old season.
"You’re going to need people ready to come in when others are maybe not playing so well, form isn’t too great and injuries happen. Obviously, with Covid still about, it’s important to have a really good squad and that is something we are building.”
Chaplin was delighted to be in Cook’s starting line-up and added: "I expected to come here and play. I wouldn’t have dropped down a level if I wasn’t going to be a main part of the team and it’s up to me to put in the performances that warrant that and to stay in the team. That’s something I’m really looking forward to as well.”