While Town’s play-off challenge has fizzled out in recent weeks, Janoi Donacien believes that he and his colleagues can make up for the disappointment by delivering a successful season next time round.
League fixture 46 — and game number 55 in all competitions — of a season that promised so much after the arrival of new manager Kieran McKenna in mid-December sees the Blues take on Charlton Athletic, another team whose achievements fall way short of the club’s ambition to return to the Championship, at Portman Road on Saturday.
Donacien, who was signed from Accrington Stanley on the eve of the 2018/19 campaign by then boss Paul Hurst, said: "As long as we can keep our best players, we don’t suffer too much from injuries and we enjoy a bit of luck along the way, there’s no reason why we can’t have a good season.
"Sone [Aluko] is already on board for another year and he’s a quality player who is capable of adding so much to the team. We’re all delighted he is going to be around next season and it only adds to the optimism within the squad.
"I know the fans appreciate what he has to offer and the rest of the players feel exactly the same. He makes us stronger and because of his vast experience he is able to give some great advice to the other lads, and not just the youngsters. He’s great for everyone.”
Town’s dreams of a Championship return have been dashed for a third successive season but Luton, where Donacien was brought up and with whom he spent time in his youth, remain in contention for promotion to the Premier League, while Fleetwood, where he spent the second half of last season on loan, are locked in a struggle for survival at the bottom of League One.
But the Town man added: "To be totally honest I don’t really spend much time looking for the results of other teams I have had connections with in the past. I’ve just been concentrating on myself and Ipswich, and I genuinely haven’t been looking at other teams, their results or even the league tables.
"But, having said that, I did see that Exeter had been promoted on Tuesday and one of my friends plays for them, so I was happy for him.
"But that’s the only time that I have been interested in what other teams are doing. I’m pleased for him but I know what Exeter being in League One will mean to me — another long journey!”
Manager McKenna may feel the time is right to give some minutes on Saturday to midfielder Cameron Humphreys and forward Tawanda Chirewa, two youngsters who were unused substitutes for the 1-1 draw at Crewe last week.
Chirewa netted twice on Wednesday, while Humphreys also featured, as the Town U18s won the Professional Development League Cup at Portman Road, defeated 10-man Coventry City 7-0, the Sky Blues having lost defender Abel Alabi to a red card in the 13th minute that also resulted in a penalty converted by Chirewa, who became the second youngest player debutant in the club’s history — after Connor Wickham — when he was a late substitute in an EFL Trophy game at Colchester in November 2019.
Donacien believes both teenagers are knocking on the door to the senior squad. "I’ve seen them over a period of years now, especially Cam as he did last year’s pre-season with us and he’s a quality little player,” said the defender. "Tawanda is also a top young talent and there are others coming through.
"Elkan [Baggott] is a bit older but he made his league debut at Rotherham recently and he’s another one with a bright future.
"It will be good for their development, all three of them, if they have a pre-season with the senior lads and even if they go out on loan I can see them pushing through eventually.
"They are not just bright players, they all want to listen and learn, which is equally important. We’ve seen Elkan at closer quarters than the others and he is always looking to pick the senior players’ brains about things.
"The big thing for young lads is to get game time and the more they play, the more they will learn and progress. They will learn a lot about themselves as well.
"It’s exciting to see youngsters pushing for a call-up to the senior squad. It keeps everyone on their toes if the competition for places increases.
"The younger lads are excited for their contemporaries if they are getting a taste of life around the first team and it acts as an incentive for them to work as hard as they can.
"As for the senior players, like I’ve said, we all need competition to keep us focused and not take anything for granted.”
So, what does the summer have in store for Donacien? He revealed: "I’ll put my feet up for a few days and we’re going back to St Lucia to chill for a time. It will be a chance to show off my son to the family over there. It’s a beautiful part of the world and I’ve got 10 uncles and aunties living there.
"We haven’t been back for three years, since just before my son was born, so there are a lot of family members for him to meet.
"But while we’re definitely looking forward to the trip, it won’t be long before we are back in pre-season training and ready to go again. Even when we’re on our break we’ll be sticking to the fitness programmes we are given by the club so there won’t be a lot of rest.”