Goalkeeper Christian Walton loves the positivity at Town right now that comes courtesy of a tremendous run of results under new manager Kieran McKenna and is desperate to see it continue over the final weeks of the season.
Town will be looking to further enhance their play-off prospects against Cheltenham Town tonight and, depending on results elsewhere, the Blues could be sitting just one point off sixth place by the final whistle.
Asked to provide a brief insight into McKenna’s impact within the space of only a few weeks, the former Brighton keeper said: "It has been massive, a breath of fresh air really. New ideas from a young manager who has worked at the very highest level with Manchester United, where the calibre of players he worked alongside could hardly have been higher.
"As players, we need to buy into everything he is offering and have a growth mindset towards everything.
"When you have a coach like that you need to take as much from him as you can if you want to improve as a player. If you are improving as an individual, look at how much that can improve the team.
"It’s only going to make us better and I’m enjoying working with him and his staff, including goalkeeper coach Rene Gilmartin, the same as everyone else is benefiting.
"We’re on a good page at the minute and it’s down to us to continue that through to the end of the season.
"It’s what this club has always wanted. Ipswich is a massive club, as I knew from having played against them in previous seasons when I was out on loan from Brighton.
"But I never actually realised and appreciated how big a club it is until I came here to play for them on loan last summer.
"When the January transfer window came round, and I had a chance to sign permanently, that was one of the major factors in my decision to accept the offer.
"I obviously have no regrets because the confidence around the place now is huge and when you have a massive following it makes you realise how lucky you are to be a player here.
"Everything is going well at the moment and it’s a great place to be, whether you’re a player or a member of staff at the club.
"The fans have been excellent as well and I haven’t detected any real bitterness from them in my time at the club.
"You can understand supporters getting on your back when you don’t achieve the results expected of you, which happens at every club, but the Ipswich crowd have really got behind us this season and particularly over the last few weeks when we’ve put together such a good run.
"They encourage us and they were patient after so many new players came in during the summer, meaning it was always going to take time to get into our stride.
"The fans that travel in their numbers to away games have been incredible — unbelievable in fact — and we appreciate it because it can only help us as a team. We all thank them for that.”
Walton was still with the Seagulls when Town lost 2-1 at Cheltenham back in August last year but is set to make it 10 starts under McKenna when the Robins come to town for the first time tonight, with Town seeking a fifth successive home win to keep the pressure on the sides above them in the play-off chase.
"Every club wants to make their home ground as much of a fortress as possible and our aim will be to win and collect another three points,” said the Cornishman.
"But Cheltenham will pose a threat. They are on a good run themselves and have only lost once in their last nine league games and that was at Rotherham, the leaders, where they only lost 1-0.
"They’ve also had some good results against the teams towards the top of the league, so we know to expect a tough game.
"But we’re ready for that and hopefully we can continue to produce the type of performances we’ve produced in previous weeks. We won 3-0 against Burton on Saturday but that wasn’t easy either.”
Asked how he felt Cheltenham might be feeling after a remarkable see-saw affair at Wycombe on Saturday, when the teams shared 10 goals, Walton added: "I think you can look at it both ways. They might be tired after the game at Wycombe because they would have had to put a lot of effort in to score five goals against one of the better sides in League One.
"But at the same time they are going to be full of confidence because they’ve scored so many away from home. Let’s hope it’s not going to be that type of game tomorrow night and if any team is going to score it’s going to be us.
"Their striker, Alfie May, scored four of their goals at Wycombe so he’s going to be full of confidence as well.
"We do our homework, though. We’ve had our pre-match meetings and we’ll be fully prepared for what’s coming. We’ll know how to deal with the threat that Cheltenham pose and it will be up to us to implement our style on the game.
"We’ve done well in previous weeks and we’ll be looking to put on another good performance.
"We’re really proud of our home record and the fact that our performances, not just the results, have been good. It’s down to everyone working so hard in training and then in the games, plus wanting to improve both as players and as a team.
"I’m no different to the other lads in that I want to reach the best standard I can and help the team to finish as high in the table as we can.
"Who knows where we’re going to be, come the 30th of April, but if we’re doing everything right there will be no excuses at the end of the season. We’re all doing our utmost to get into the play-offs.”
The recent inclement weather has hampered Town’s preparations, with Walton explaining: "We’ve not done as much training recently as we’d normally expect to do because of the weather. It hasn’t been ideal, not at all.
"Friday was very difficult and we couldn’t get out on the grass but we’ve got the dome at the training ground and we were able to work there.
"The conditions were really bad and difficult on Saturday, especially during the first half, and the quality of the game suffered as a result.
"Second-half it was fine and I’m sure it will be okay for the game against Cheltenham, although we’ve also had a fair bit of rain since Saturday. No matter the weather, we’ll be there, all guns blazing, looking for another win.”