Massimo Luongo has confirmed his desire to stay with Town beyond the end of the season when his short-term deal is due to expire.
The 30-year-old Australian was signed in January and has become one of the most popular players at Portman Road after seizing his chance to replace the injured Lee Evans and form a midfield partnership alongside skipper Sam Morsy.
While Morsy has won promotion with previous clubs Chesterfield and Wigan, it will be a first-time experience for Luongo if the Blues defeat Exeter at Portman Road tomorrow to seal their Championship return to a level he knows very well.
Asked about his future beyond the end of the current campaign, Luongo joked that he had forgotten his contract was coming to an end. "I’d forgotten about that,” he laughed.
"There hasn’t really been time to think about that because we’ve been so busy playing games. I’ll worry about that at the end of the season — whatever happens, happens — but I’d love to stay. It’s a great club.
"I’ve been part of so many play-off games so to get automatic promotion would be amazing.
"Personally, it would be great to have it on my CV, but I want to play games and play well. I don’t want to be at a club that gets promoted and not play — that would not have the same feeling — so I just need to get on the pitch tomorrow, do my job and, if we win, feel like I deserve it.”
Asked how the current Town squad compared to those at his previous second-tier clubs, Luongo said: "Obviously, you can tell that the players who have been recruited here are not League One players. But the problem is still that we need to get out of League One.
"We have Championship-level players at this club and if we go up I think we’ll be alright. I’d love to be part of it next season. I see myself as a really good player — you have to back yourself — but that would be nice. We just need to get the job done.”
Luongo went on to explain that his midfield double act with Morsy is based on mutual respect between the pair, the captain recently stating that they clicked straight away, and supporters have been raving about the duo in their time together.
"We’re never really on the same side but when we train together it’s good because I think we have a few similar attributes,” Luongo said.
"The other boys make fun of us a little bit, calling us twins, but I pride myself on how I train and Sam’s the same. He’s at it every single day and if anyone’s standards slip, he’ll soon let them know about it. His standards never slip so I think he brings out the best in everyone.
"When your captain is at it, 100 per cent every day, every training session, he wants all the players to be the same and the other boys work hard as well. I take pride in how I train and live my life, again Sam’s the same, and it rubs off on the others.
"I’m one of the more senior players and I try to help the younger guys when I can. I like to let my football do the talking but if Sam’s having a go at someone, I might try to be the good cop. It tends to work. I look up to people like Sam, who demand so much of the other players.
"It’s nice to have people like that in your team and I’ve played alongside many like that. You can learn from them but you can also help them and make them look even better. They can make you look better as well, so it’s important to create good relationships with people like that.
"Everything here is great. The players, the manager, the coaches, everyone is brilliant. The detail we have is second to none based on my career until now, but the best thing about it is that they are all such good people and you don’t really get that 100 per cent at most clubs.
"They have done well in selecting the type of people to come into this club, which is something that is probably underrated. You get a lot of good players out there but you don’t always get top, top people in football.”
Asked what it felt like to be part of a team chasing promotion, Luongo responded: "I’ve been part of it for a lot of my career, especially in League One. I’m telling you now, it’s tough, and it’s easy to get caught up in it. You can’t get too high with one win and then too low when defeat can seem to ruin everything.
"It is definitely emotional and you’ve got to have the right characters to block everything out. Once you’re in the building, you’re in the building and you don’t listen to or hear what’s going on elsewhere.
"It’s pressure but it’s good pressure because you’d rather have that than being at the other end of the table. It’s exciting and it’s an emotional rollercoaster, but it’s definitely an excitement that you need.”
Town have two games left to play to round off the season but the perfect outcome would be to clinch promotion at home in front of their own fans. Luongo added: "It’s the last home game of the season and I think everyone wants to win the last home game of the season.
"They want to win every game and I’m like that. I just want to win the game and that’s how I’m going into it.”