Town new boy Kyle Edwards has praised the club’s supporters after he made his debut as a substitute in Saturday’s narrow 2-1 defeat at Burton in front of a 1,700-strong Blue Army.
That meant almost 50 per cent of the spectators in the 3,766 attendance were cheering for Ipswich and Edwards, who entered the fray as a 66th minute replacement for Louie Barry, was extremely impressed.
The former West Brom winger said: "It was incredible away support and knowing the support Ipswich have was a big factor in me deciding to sign.
"I knew they were a big club and when I went to Tuesday’s game in the Carabao Cup I could see how the stadium was jumping.
"Now I’m looking forward to Saturday’s home game against MK Dons and playing in front of an even bigger crowd.
"It was great to get on and play for the first time in front of the fans and with my new team-mates. It was exciting for me and although we didn’t get the win I thought the performance from the whole team was good.”
Only a tremendous save by home keeper Ben Garratt prevented Edwards from marking the occasion with a goal. BBC Radio Suffolk commentator Brenner Woolley was so convinced the ball was destined for the net that he admitted he was about to describe it as the best debut goal he had seen in almost 20 years of covering the club.
"To be fair,” Edwards added, "when I hit it I felt it was going in and I was almost celebrating. But the keeper got a touch to it so we’ll just have to wait and hopefully not too long for my first goal.
"I’ve scored goals in the past but I still feel it’s an area that I need to work on and try to improve. I’d love to add more goals to my game and hopefully with coming to Ipswich I will get the game time to do that. I want to score and I want to show I can score.
"The best way of describing me as a player would be to say I am direct. I just like to get at players and try to create chances for other people or to get shots off myself. I’m always looking to be creative and make something happen.
"The gaffer [Paul Cook] has told me that as soon as I get the ball I should just go and do my stuff. He has given me that licence and for me, and the sort of player that I am, that’s what I want to hear. It encourages me to play my way when the manager is backing me and what I am doing.”
Edwards believes his best position is on the left flank, adding: "Playing out there lets me cut in and have a go with my right foot or find the right passes. When I play on the left I feel it is my most comfortable position. But I don’t mind going on the outside because I can get crosses into the box for the good strikers we have in the team.
"We have several players who are good in the air and I want to be making assists for them. Coming through the academy at West Brom I worked a lot on my left foot, as well as my right, for situations where the defender shows you outside. I don’t mind that option if it happens.
"We can be a real threat this season because I’ve seen the strikers we have in the squad and it’s the job of the wide players to create the opportunities for them. As a wide man myself that’s what I want — plenty of players in the middle looking to get on the end of the crosses we provide.”
Edwards is looking to improve as a player from working with Cook and his coaching staff. "That’s the reason I decided to come here,” he explained. "I was in and out of the West Brom team for a long time and I took the decision last season not to sign the new contract that was offered to me.
"I opted to move on and look for more regular game time and the manager has said that at my age he believes I should be playing more games. That’s the project we are going to be working on.
"I could have stayed at West Brom because they offered me a contract towards the end of last season and we were talking about it for a while. I just thought the time was right for me to move on and get regular football if I could and show everyone what I can do.
"I’m 23 now and I’ve come off the bench a lot of times but never really had a starting place. I saw the option to come here as a really good one. The club wants to go back to the Championship and that’s what I want too. It’s an opportunity I felt I had to take.”