Town winger Kyle Edwards is loving life right now after ending his wait to score his first goals for the club more than a year after he first joined.
Edwards was recruited in August 2021 on a free transfer after leaving first club West Bromwich Albion and his progress was delayed by a number of injuries, the most serious of which, a quad problem, saw him unavailable for selection and sitting out the club’s final 16 games of the 2021/22 campaign.
Dudley-born Edwards, 24, has been at his most prominent in recent weeks, however, and admitted: "October has been a really positive month for me and the club. I’ve scored my first goals for the club as well. I was waiting a long time to score so I’m delighted I got a couple, while picking up my form and getting a chance to play in more games has been another plus. Hopefully, it will continue.”
Where it matters most, in League One, Edwards has only started two games and been introduced from the bench in another seven, his double strike to break his scoring duck coming in the 3-0 home defeat of Cambridge United under the Portman Road floodlights.
But just three days earlier he made a key contribution as promotion rivals Portsmouth threatened to nick a point after they equalised for a second time.
Their fans were still celebrating when Edwards took on Conor Ogilvie and his cross deflected off the defender high into the air before dropping conveniently for Wes Burns, who later owned up that the ball had smacked him in the face and gone over the line to clinch a 3-2 win for the Blues.
Edwards laughed: "I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t get an assist for that one. The gaffer just told me to go on and do what I do, like driving at defenders and stuff like that.
"As soon as I got the ball that was my intention and when the cross spun off the defender it felt like it was in the air for ages before it eventually came down.
"I didn’t really know what was going on but then Wes got the vital touch and it was all good.
"The timing was good as well because Portsmouth had just equalised and probably thought they were going to get away with a point. That made the moment even better.”
Turning his attention to his two-goal display against Cambridge, again after joining the action late on with Town still to make the breakthrough their pressure deserved, Edwards was asked if he had intended his first goal that came courtesy of a high, looping cross from the right that flew over visiting keeper Dimitar Mitov and into the net soon after fellow sub Tyreece John-Jules had initially ended the lengthy stalemate.
Did he mean it or was it intended as a cross? He said: "It had been on my mind for a long time to score but when you’re out wide like that you are just looking to put the ball in the right area.
"Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t. That one went in and it meant a lot to me because it was my first goal for the club. I’ll never forget that one.
"I went on to get a second and there was no doubt about that one. Tyreece [John-Jules] had a shot that was saved and I followed in to score.
"I’ve been talking to a lot of the coaches, like Granty [Lee Grant] and Martyn [Pert], about getting into the box more regularly.
"If I hadn’t got there for my second goal that night I’m sure they would have been moaning at me, so I had to make sure that I was there to finish.
"Really and truly, because I was a fraction late on to the ball, the only way I could hit it was with the outside of my right boot and I was pleased to see it fly in.”
Asked to provide an insight into manager Kieran McKenna’s message to Edwards when he is introduced as a substitute, he added: "He encourages me to play my game. Yes, he wants to see me run at opponents but he also wants me to retain the ball at times and look to bring other people into play.
"I’m always looking to create and push forward, which is what I believe I can bring to the team, but the gaffer just encourages me to go out and do my stuff. He’s got trust in me now, which is a nice feeling.
"I’m really enjoying myself at the moment. There was quite a long period when I wasn’t in the team and even out of the squad so the challenge now is to stay involved as much as I can.
"I’m doing all I can, in training and when I get a chance in the games, to keep my place. When you’re playing, you’re always happier and life seems better, so I’m trying to stay in and around the first team.”
But while October has been largely positive in terms of Town reinforcing their position close to the top of League One, the one negative for Edwards was to see red in the Papa Johns Trophy group game against Cambridge United, a decision that baffled all those in attendance.
Already booked for an earlier challenge that the referee deemed to be too high, Edwards appeared to have been brought down inside the penalty area for an obvious spot-kick, but instead the man in charge bizarrely interpreted it as simulation by the winger and dished out a second yellow that saw the player dismissed with just 17 minutes on the clock.
Edwards recalled: "I went on the overlap around Kane [Vincent-Young] and took a touch to go past their player when he literally took me out. I was getting up convinced we would have a penalty but the referee told me I had dived and that I had to go off.
"I was so surprised and shocked but in the end there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. But I think everyone knows he got it wrong.”