Town defender Janoi Donacien is the living proof that when adversity strikes it’s how you respond to it that matters most and that a player’s perseverance can quickly earn a dramatic change of fortune.
Donacien, 29, is currently riding the crest of a wave, which has swept him and the Blues back to the Championship, the level at which he kicked-off his Portman Road career just over five years ago when he was signed by new boss Paul Hurst and made his debut on the opening day of the 2018/19 season in the 2-2 home draw with Blackburn Rovers.
Signed from Accrington Stanley, initially on loan but with a view to joining permanently once UK residency issues were resolved, and having previously been at Aston Villa, from whom he spent time on loan at Tranmere Rovers, Wycombe Wanderers and Newport County, he made a further 10 senior appearances before Hurst was sacked in October 2018.
When Paul Lambert, who had been in charge at Villa during Donacien’s time there, took over, he did not name the player in any of his starting line-ups, and in January 2019 he was allowed to return to Accrington for the remainder of the season, clocking up a further 20 outings while Town finished bottom of the Championship and were relegated.
Although he started the League One campaign in the side, he dropped out when Kane Vincent-Young arrived from Colchester, and he was so out of favour at the start of the following season that Lambert allowed him to join Fleetwood on loan in January 2021.
Lambert had gone, replaced by Paul Cook, and the club was under new ownership when he returned to Portman Road for pre-season training in the summer of 2021 and he signed a new two-year deal. In April this year, with that deal set to expire a few weeks later, the club triggered the option clause in his contract to offer him a further 12-month stay, which he was pleased to accept.
Going back to his Town debut, Donacien is the only player from the starting line-up that day who is still at the club. He said he remembered it well and even volunteered to name the other players who appeared alongside him that day.
He managed to recall Bialkowski, Spence, Chambers, Knudsen, Skuse, Edwards, Harrison and Sears, but forgot Chelsea loanee Trevoh Chabolah and failed to recall that Flynn Downes, and not Andre Dozzell, was in midfield.
Another link between then and now is that Luke Woolfenden came off the bench that day to replace Jordan Spence before half-time, so he, Donacien and Kayden Jackson, who arrived from Accrington a few weeks later, are the only current first-team players who also featured five years ago.
Donacien knows better than most how things have changed at Portman Road and he added: "I think it’s a completely different club now. It’s looking in a different direction now to what it was when I joined. I think it’s fair to say that.
"There have been certain points along the way when I was looking and thinking ‘Things are looking good’ but there have been other times when it was a case of things not being so good. But for a while now the club has been on an upwards trajectory.
"I was extremely happy when my deal was extended in April. I’m really happy to be here and settled in the area. I like where I live and it’s a good place to be. As the club has been going through ups and downs since 2018, so have we as players, me, Woolfy and Kayden, who came in later that month.
"We’ve been in and out of the team, me and Woolfy spent time out on loan and it’s been a real journey, a football journey, for us. It’s one to be proud of and for me, it’s a really good memory to have.”
Donacien and Woolfenden have started both Town’s league games this season against Sunderland and Stoke, the latter opening the scoring against Stoke last weekend, and Jackson came off the bench in the second half against the Potters to net the second goal in his side’s 2-0 win.
"I think Jacko is a very important player for us,” added Donacien. "We know his qualities and what he can contribute to the team. I ran from the other side of the pitch to congratulate him on his goal because I was so happy for him.
"When anyone scores I’ll run and congratulate them but I was extremely excited for Jacko when he scored that one.”