Wes Burns could just have fielded the question, but when asked who he felt should succeed him as Player of the Year for the current campaign, he instead chose to tackle it full-on and provide an honest answer.
Burns, a popular winner of the prestigious accolade last term, said: "That’s a very tough question to answer because so many of the lads have been superb this season. I may be being a little bit biased because he’s my mate but I think young Chappers should get it. I’ll be happy to pass it over to him as well.”
Last season Burns was Town’s leading scorer with 13 goals, a tally that the in-form Conor Chaplin — six goals in his last four games, 10 in his last 10 and 25 for the season so far — could more than double by the end of a season that still has five games left to play.
All the surprising, therefore, that when the nominations for the Sky Bet League One Player of the Year Award were announced last week, Chaplin’s name was conspicuous by its absence, with Peterborough’s Jonson Clarke-Harris, Aaron Collins of Bristol Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday’s Barry Bannan comprising the three-man shortlist.
"I think we were all surprised by that,” said Burns. "But Conor being Conor, his main focus is on the team doing well. Noting matters more to him than us winning and having success as a team, but if he does win any of the individual awards, I know he’d be buzzing and rightly so.”
But Burns was quick, like manager Kieran McKenna and his colleagues before him, to emphasise the need to guard against looking too far ahead and to concentrate instead on taking one game at a time, a policy that underpinned their season so far.
The Welshman was asked how easy it was to adhere to the one-game-at-a-time mantra and replied: "As long as we keep it in-house it’s fine. We have meetings most days when we’re discussing the next game and I think as long as keep it like that, and don’t get carried away by letting the noise on the outside affect us, stuff like what’s going on with the other teams, and take it one game at a time we’ll be fine.
"We just have to make sure that whatever game comes next, we prepare properly and execute our game plan to the very best of our ability.”
With Town currently sitting second in the table, one point behind leaders Plymouth Argyle, with 85 points to their name and five games still to be played, it is still possible they could end the campaign on the 100-point mark.
But Burns was in no mood to speculate, adding: "It would be nice, yes, but as I’ve said before it has to be one game at a time. We’ve got five games left and for us to possibly win them all it would guarantee that we would go up. But we’re not looking that far ahead.
"It’s all about tomorrow and Port Vale at home, doing our very best to make sure we win and collect the three points. It can’t be any other way and that will be our approach for each and every one of the games we have left.
"We’ve reached a stage of the season where it’s mainly about keeping everybody fresh and focused, and ensuring we are all as energised as possible going into the games. We’re fully equipped and ready to go, no matter who is picked in the starting line-up and who’s on the bench. That’s kind of where we’re at as regards the training. We all know where we’re at with our performances and what else we need to do, and it’s just a case of executing that when we go out on to the pitch on match days.”
When asked if Town were at the point where they are going into games expecting to win, he responded: "I wouldn’t say we go out expecting to win. We expect to have to earn the goals and the points by our performances, but we are in a good stride where we know that if we execute our game plan and bring what we know we can to every game, a team is going to have to be very, very, very good on the day to take points off us or beat us.
"We know that if we turn up and do what we usually do, it’s going to take one hell of a team to beat us.”
Town will be taking on a Port Vale team with assistant manager Andy Crosby in charge after the decision earlier today to part company with Darrell Clarke, the manager who earned them promotion last season from League Two via the play-offs and under whom they have not won in their last seven games, while slipping to within six points of the drop zone.
Can we expect an ultra-defensive, rather than adventurous, approach from the visitors as they attempt to dig out the points to ensure their third-tier survival? Burns said: "That may be the case, yes, but it won’t be anything new.
"We’ve had games this season where teams have come to Portman Road and tried to deploy these tactics, putting everyone behind the ball and being very stubborn, but we’re more than well-equipped to deal with that and we know where the solutions will be. It’s a game we are looking forward to and it will be a good test for us.”
Meanwhile, Burns believes Town’s record this season — a mere four defeats in 41 league games — is ample proof of Kieran McKenna being one of the game’s most outstanding young managers.
He explained: "It just goes to show how good he really is, to be honest. His attention to detail is top-level and isn’t something I have ever experienced before. For us, we’re learning every day and we’re improving every day, which is great credit to him and his coaching staff.
"Is he an elite-level manager? Absolutely, he is. His management is up there with the best that I have ever experienced and will probably ever experience. I’m just happy that I can be a part of it. Our record this season is down to him and I see it as a by-product of all our hard work throughout the season.
"I’ve said before in previous interviews that I believe we’re the hardest-working team in our league and I think we’re reaping the benefits of all the hard graft that we’ve been putting in all season. Our fitness levels and our energy levels are a lot for opposition teams to handle; sometimes it can just be too much for them.”
Burns and his colleagues have also come in for praise for their ongoing involvement with the Ipswich Town Foundation, reinstated in 2019 and revitalised by the club’s new owners soon after they completed their takeover two years later and whose wide-ranging work in the community has been regularly highlighted by the media.
He and pal Chaplin walked out for a recent game wearing ear defenders to help increase awareness of autism, while Burns was proud to push a youngster in a wheelchair as part of the pre-match mascot duties prior to Saturday’s six-goal demolition of Charlton.
"It has been ingrained in us since we came to the club that we have to get involved in such matters and I don’t mind at all,” said Burns.
"We’re part of a massive community and fanbase, and it’s our job to make people feel a part of the club. If you asked any member of the squad to give up an hour or two of his time, he would be more than happy to do so and I’m just happy to help the same as the rest of them.”
Finally, the subject turned to the popular video game Call of Duty, which Burns spends time playing when his football commitments allow, something many Town fans will already know as they will have spotted him on there.
He added: "It can be very addictive but it’s just an escape for me when I get away from football and training. I can switch off from the pressures of football that way and just enjoy myself with some friends online. It’s a good escape for me.
"There are a lot of fans who come on with questions, so it’s also a way for me to interact with them. It’s fun for me because I get to know the community better and what fans want to find out, but obviously there’s only so much I can talk about.”