On-loan Blues forward Armando Dobra believes it’s good for him to get out of his comfort zone at Town and spend the season on loan at Colchester United.
The 20-year-old joined the League Two U’s on the final day of the transfer window.
The Albanian U21 international made an impressive debut for the North Essex side in their Papa John’s Trophy defeat to Gillingham earlier this month and is now looking to break into the league team.
"It's good to come out of my comfort zone,” he told the Colchester Gazette. "I've been at Ipswich for six years now so it's good to come out and learn my trade and take myself to the next level. I'm sure I can do that here.
"I'm here to fight for my place, try and break into the team and try and solidify my position in the squad and the team.”
Looking back on what led to his move, Dobra added: "In pre-season, it was a case of stay and see how things go and try and break into the team.
"But then at the end of pre-season, I had a chat with the gaffer and he said it's best for me to go out on loan and play as many games as I can.
"That was more likely for me if I went to a League Two team to play and when I heard that Colchester were interested, I was buzzing.
"I had an honest chat with the gaffer [Cook] and we both came to the decision that it was best for me to do that.
"There's a lot of players there now and with that, it's going to be hard to break into the team because there are so many players.
"This is an important part in my career where I need to be playing now because if I'm not playing, it's just going to halt my development.
"This is a very good opportunity for me. I didn't come here to be in a mid-table team. I'm here to try and get promotion and the ambition is good.”
Dobra became the fifth Town player to join Colchester this summer following former skipper Luke Chambers, Alan Judge, Cole Skuse and Freddie Sears.
"There are a lot of familiar faces here for me - Judgey, Skusey, Chambo, Searsy and Tommy Smith,” the Blues academy product continued.
"I knew Colchester was a good place to come even before I spoke to them. But I spoke to the boys as well and they gave me positive things about Colchester, so I'm happy to be here.”