Blues boss Paul Cook says striker Joe Pigott did exactly what he should do in order to stake a claim for a place in the team at Gillingham on Tuesday night - as Janoi Donacien did at right-back earlier in the season - but says at present eight-goal top scorer Macauley Bonne has made himself undroppable.
Pigott joined Town from AFC Wimbledon in the summer and started the season in the League One XI but subsequently fell behind Bonne in the pecking order with the on-loan QPR man finding the net on a regular basis.
Maidstone-born Pigott scored his third goal for the Blues against his former loan club Gillingham on Tuesday and Cook felt the 27-year-old did everything which was required of him.
"I just think it’s great for Joe,” the Town manager said. "Joe’s a lovely lad, he doesn’t lack confidence, he’s a really confident boy. I think [it was great] for him and Conor Chaplin to get on the pitch the other night.
"And for an Ipswich team to play and perform like that, was everything that we expected from the games with Newport and West Ham.
"I felt the performance against Newport was very much acceptable, I thought we were excellent on the night against Newport, we just couldn’t score. Against West Ham, we were disappointing, it was a different type of performance.
"For all these lads, it’s how you train, how you play. Macauley Bonne’s come in and just taken the jersey, Macauley’s made it impossible to be left out.
"Macauley’s been one of the big pluses in terms of saying ‘When I get my chance, I will take it and I will keep it’.
"And that makes it harder for the other strikers at the club to get in. What Joe did Tuesday night is exactly what people should do, to stake a claim to say ‘Gaffer, I’m ready if you need me to play’.
"And that’s what we want at our club, we want lads champing at the bit to say ‘If I’m selected, I’m ready to play’.”
Cook says Donacien, who started the season out of the team but is now a regular at right-back, is an example to other players.
"Janoi’s been outstanding since he’s come back in the team,” he said. "He’s probably been one of our brighter performers in terms of consistency and we know what he’s going to do on the pitch.
"I think for all the good teams around the world and the country, doing what it says on the tin is important.
"For us at the minute, we’re still establishing the rules in terms of what players bring to the team. What are the ingredients to make a good team? What is our best team? What is our best formation in and around what we do.
"And JD’s come in and staked that claim for himself at right-back and done it really, really well.”