Just seconds into George Edmundson’s first pre-match press conference as a Town player and the big defender made it clear he is blessed with a great sense of humour.
Asked to comment on his first goal for the Blues, to complete the scoring in Tuesday’s 6-0 thrashing of Doncaster Rovers at Portman Road, he joked: "I thought it was the best of the lot!”
Anyone present in midweek and witnessed Edmundson prodding the ball in from close range will appreciate the joke. But when the laughter subsided, Edmundson put on his serious face and added: "It was my first goal for the club so I’m really chuffed and overall it was a good night for everybody who was involved.
"We just clicked and while it was nice to score I was more bothered about keeping a clean sheet, to be honest.”
Midfielder Lee Evans took the scoring honours with a first-ever career hat-trick and QPR loanee Macauley Bonne was close behind with a double to make it seven for the season and take him into joint-second place in the list of League One’s leading marksmen.
It was only Edmundson’s fourth senior outing and his previous goal had been for Derby County in the Championship in February this year when he was on loan from Rangers and they defeated Huddersfield 2-0.
The 24-year-old from Timperley added: "Everybody’s buzzing for Lee because he’s a top lad, both on and off the pitch. The lads have really taken to him and throughout the club we haven’t got any bad eggs.
"We all get on and the lads love him, while he gets on with the rest of us. We’re all chuffed for him.
"We’ve picked up a bit of momentum in our last three games to take seven points from nine. Even the lads who haven’t been getting in the matchday squads are working hard because they want to get in and play. The whole squad is really good.
"I think we’ve sent out a signal to the rest of the league that we’re getting our act together now. Our game against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday was like that.
"It sort of said ‘We’ve arrived’ and we carried on from there against Doncaster. Obviously, we didn’t have the best of starts but the last three have really put a stamp on us in the league.”
Edmundson was one of 19 players signed by Town boss Paul Cook in the summer transfer window and he had to wait for his debut because of an injury he was still carrying when he completed his £750,000 move from Scottish giants Rangers.
"The club knew that when I came in I was injured and we didn’t want to rush things,” he explained. "It was a bit annoying but it’s a long season and I knew there would be plenty of games for me to try to get involved in.
"We knew that if we didn’t rush it I would miss a couple of weeks rather than playing and risking that I would be out for a couple of months.
"I still wasn’t feeling 100 per cent fit when I played my first game and lost 5-2 at home to Bolton. It wasn’t my best day but in football you do get games like that from time to time. We didn’t click defensively and we didn’t show too much going forward either.
"But we went on to win at Lincoln and at the weekend, against Sheffield Wednesday, I was feeling strong and dead fit. I had loads of energy and with every game I can feel I’m getting fitter and stronger. We’ve tweaked a few things and definitely started to click.”
The Bolton debacle aside, Edmundson and central defensive partner Cameron Burgess have formed a promising partnership, which is emphasised by the fact that Town have kept two clean sheets in their last three outings.
Edmundson added: "Cam’s a great lad and since the Bolton game we’ve sat down with the gaffer and watched a few clips, while at the same time tweaking a few things on the training ground.
"As you can see from our recent results it has paid off and we look a lot more solid at the back.”
When the double act got together against Bolton it was the second time they had partnered each other — and, whisper it, the second time they were members of a defence to concede five goals.
"Yes, it’s true,” said Edmundson. "Cam and I played alongside each other for Oldham against Carlisle when he was on loan from Fulham. It was over five years ago now, a Johnstone’s Paints Trophy game at our place and we lost 5-4.
"Cam stayed for the rest of the season but I went out on loan to Alfreton and then returned for the second half of the season but didn’t play a lot. We were both young lads at the time and it’s strange how we are back together again here.”