Former Town skipper Luke Chambers may no longer be part of the Portman Road furniture but his influence is still being felt at the club, Kane Vincent-Young has confirmed.
Chambers, who clocked up 396 appearances for the club, led a summer exodus from the Blues as manager Paul Cook set about a full-scale rebuild, bringing in 19 new senior players to give his side a brand new look.
One of the few players to have survived the cull, Vincent-Young admits he will continue to miss Chambers, who has dropped down to League Two with Colchester, and that the experienced defender was a perfect role medal in his time with Town.
Asked which of the departed players he will miss most, Vincent-Young replied: "That’s a tough question because I got on well with everybody. But thinking back to when I arrived at the club I’ll miss Luke Chambers and his personality massively because he was brilliant for me. When I first signed and again when I was out for a long time injured he never left me alone.
"We’re still in contact now and hopefully I’ll see him soon. I definitely miss him and will continue to miss him. When I think how Chambo and others like Cole Skuse conducted themselves I think to myself ‘That’s the way I want to be regarded by my teammates’.
"They set the most wonderful example to me and if I can be like them I’ll be extremely pleased.”
Vincent-Young is delighted to still be a part of the set-up under Cook and added: "It’s strange. I came in pre-season and things were completely different. It’s a shame to lose a lot of old teammates and good friends but we know the direction we want to go in and the manager has decided to bring all these new players in.
"I’m grateful to still be here and I’m working hard every day to try to cement my place in the team.
"I injured my shoulder at Shrewsbury in May and had to have an operation so I missed the meetings that were taking place. But I had a word with the manager when I came in during pre-season to get fitter and it was nice to hear I was in his plans.
"You can never take these things for granted. The squad we have now is full of completely different players and I wasn’t under any illusions. I knew I could be one of the players going out and I never took the situation lightly at all.
"Like I said, it has been very strange. In football nothing really surprises you anymore but it was strange initially. As the season has progressed, though, we have started to gel as a completely new team and things have started to feel a bit more normal.
"It’s very much a new chapter for the club. We have brought in a lot of talented, exciting players that are really good both on and off the pitch. It’s a direction I am really grateful to be going in with the club.”
Vincent-Young arrived from Colchester just over two years ago, impressing immediately, but injuries have cost him a lot of game time, to the extent that he has made just 20 first-team appearances.
He said: "It’s weird because I don’t really feel I’ve been here for an extremely long time but when I look around the dressing room I’m one of the longest-serving players so I see it as my duty to make the new guys feel welcome.
"I tell them about the area, ask them to let me know if they need anything and make sure I am there for them. It helps us, it helps the team and when new players come in you want to make them feel comfortable because that is going to help to get the best out of them on the pitch.”