Kayden Jackson says he’s loved every day under manager Kieran McKenna having looked on his way out of Portman Road before the Northern Irishman took over in mid-December.
Town confirmed that the 28-year-old had signed a new two-year deal earlier today with his previous terms up at the end of June.
Jackson admitted in February that he might have moved on in any of the previous three transfer windows having been training with the U23s during Paul Lambert’s time as boss and only fleetingly involved under Paul Cook at the start of this season.
McKenna brought him back into the fold for his second game, the 4-0 win at Gillingham, and the frontman was in and around the side thereafter until suffering a season-ending hamstring injury in March having netted three times under the new boss.
"Unfortunately, opportunities didn’t come as often as I would have liked at the beginning of the season,” the £1.6 million 2018 signing from Accrington Stanley told iFollow Ipswich.
"I bided my time, worked hard and thankfully got my chance. I suppose that’s why I’ve been able to sign a new contract; because when I got my chance I took it.
"I have loved every day of it under the boss. I can remember having a conversation with him on the very first day he was at the training ground.
"He was so positive and I was looking forward to getting on the grass straightaway. I just wanted to show him what I could do.
"It’s been a good time for me under him. All I want is to be out there helping the lads and I thought I could add something to the team.
"Next year I want to be successful, happy and enjoying my football. I want to get the fans cheering and smiling, and put on a good show for everyone.”
Speaking about Jackson in March after the striker suffered his injury, manager McKenna said: "The main thing is that he’s a really strong character, he’s been through some significant ups and downs already in his career and in his time here.
"I’ve had some conversations with him and knowing the type of personality he is he’ll look to come back stronger, he’ll look to work on things off the pitch and especially in the gym when he’s not able to play and train with the group.
"He’ll look to get himself back in really good condition. He’s a boy who looks after himself really, really well anyway from a physical point of view, but there are always things that you can do in this sort of time period that can develop other areas whenever you’re injured and I know he’s going to look to do that.
"He’s certainly been relatively positive during the week and is looking forward to the future.”
He added: "From quite early on from seeing how well he trained and how he went about his business, I’ve had private conversations with him where I’ve expressed that I can see him being part of the future here and part of the type of squad and type of team that we’re trying to build.”