Wes Burns will be making his 100th appearance as an Ipswich player if, as expected, he plays against Preston North End at Portman Road tomorrow.
The Welshman joined Town on June 3rd 2021, the first of 19 new faces signed by the club that summer as the new owners and boss Paul Cook set about revamping the club, although it was only when the current manager, Kieran McKenna, arrived in December the same year that things began to really take shape, albeit too late for a League One promotion challenge.
Tipped off beforehand that his next game would mark his 100th first team outing in all competitions, Burns said: "I’d be honoured to play just once for this club, and to be close to my 100th is something I never thought I would be doing.
"When I signed it was a bit of a whirlwind with what was going on at the club with the new regime and the new people coming in. I remember being the first of 20-odd players we signed that year, so for me to stick it out and make almost 100 appearances is, I believe, a very good achievement for me.
"A lot has happened in my time here and although there have been some bad times, there have been a hell of a lot more good times, especially in the past year and a bit.
"The club is growing and growing to places we can only really dream of. Our goal was to get out of League One last season and without looking too far ahead, there are goals we have set ourselves that we want to achieve this year and are well on the way to doing.”
Town had to wait until seven games into the 2021/22 League One campaign to record a victory and despite a huge improvement once McKenna took charge they ended it in 11th place, a far cry from where they are today – second in the Championship having won eight of their 10 games and suffered only one defeat.
Tomorrow’s opponents have had a tough week, losing 4-0 at home to West Bromwich Albion and then 3-0 at leaders Leicester City within the space of four days, but those were their first defeats of the current campaign and they will arrive at Portman Road third in the table.
Burns said: "They are third in the table so it’s going to be a tough one. They have started the season well too. Everyone is saying how great a start we have had and Preston are just one place behind us.
"They will come and look to impose their style on us and we’re all going to have to stand up and be counted in what I can see being a proper ding-dong football match.”
League football will stop in England’s top two tiers at the weekend and the spotlight will shift to the international stage, Burns travelling to meet up with the Welsh squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers, both at home, to Gibraltar next Wednesday and Croatia the following Sunday.
Burns added: "All the focus is on tomorrow’s game against Preston but when I go away with Wales it’s refreshing to think about something that is not Ipswich Town. It’s totally different to league football because you are trying to qualify for a major international tournament.
"I’ve never been to one before so for me to help my country get there would be massive and if I can get there for the tournament in Germany next summer it would be massive for me and something else to tick off on my football bucket list.”
Asked if he found it difficult to switch from club to international football, Burns replied: "To be honest, I can’t really think too much about Wales because I’ve got the game against Preston tomorrow. But as soon as that one is over it will be a bit of a relief to not have to stress about league football for a little while.
"It’s relentless at the moment with Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday games and it’s tough on the mental side. It will be totally different to be away with Wales – different faces, different styles of football and different types of opponents, so it is refreshing in that sense.”
His Town colleague, Nathan Broadhead, will also take his place in the Welsh squad, but Burns added: "Broady keeps himself to himself to be honest. He’s not so much of a social butterfly as me. I get bored very easily, so sitting in my room watching Netflix isn’t for me. I like to get out and maybe play cards or just sit in the physio’s room chatting away with people.
"The Wales group is quite tight and quite similar in many ways to the group we have here at Ipswich. Everyone gets along with each other and there are a lot of lads that are coming from bigger clubs and things like that, but you don’t get anyone whose ego gets in the way. It means I tend to fit in with everyone.”
Burns has played on the left flank for Wales and added: "It’s not too dissimilar to be honest, just flipped the other way. Defensively, you are looking over the other shoulder to the one you are most used to looking over. It’s not that much different, although you’re obviously on the opposite side of the pitch, but I don’t find it difficult.”
Burns also passed on his congratulations to teammates Cameron Burgess and Massimo Luongo on their selection for the Australian squad as they take on England at Wembley and then New Zealand at Brentford.
"I was delighted when Burge got his first call-up last month and now for Mass because it’s his first in four or five years. Both are richly deserved for the way they have been performing for us.”
He is also an admirer, along with a growing number of Town fans, of Chelsea loanee Omari Hutchinson, the 19-year-old making a huge impression, particularly when he scored the only goal at Southampton, although even in his cameo appearances off the bench he has shown he has a lot to offer the side.
Burns said: "He’s been brilliant since he came in and we all knew what he was capable of bringing to the team. He’s challenging on both sides of the pitch for a place in the team – left 10, right 10, right wing.
"He’s bringing some real competition to the squad but that’s what you need when you are looking to be successful as a side. You need people behind you who are going to bring out the best in you.”
He was asked if the players’ excellent start had seen them grow in confidence and belief since the start of the current campaign, and whether they may have questioned themselves early on but now think of themselves as a ‘proper’ Championship club, Burns added: "I don’t think it was a case of questioning ourselves.
"It’s just natural when you are the new team coming up and no one is going to have that much respect for you,” he reflected.
"But I think a lot of teams have had to sit up and take notice of the type of team that we are. I think opposition teams are starting to give us a little bit of respect and I think it actually works in our favour because they are maybe not pressing us as hard or just giving us the respect we are due.”
Finally, casting his mind to Tuesday’s convincing 3-0 defeat of Hull City under the Portman Road floodlights, Burns added: "It was a special performance and it felt right from the very start. Our first press was good because we won the ball back off it and that’s always a good marker for us as a team.
"Another sign is when we get our connections through from Vas [Vaclav Hladky] into Sam [Morsy] or Mass [Massimo Luongo]. We were in a good rhythm early on, basically from the first whistle, and that was good for us on a great night.”