George Hirst is like any other striker – he wants to score goals and the more the merrier – but since joining Town he admits he has gained a new perspective from manager Kieran McKenna about his role in the side.
Hirst said: "Previously in my career, before I came here, I’d have said that if I’m not scoring, I mustn’t be playing that well. But I think recently, probably in the last six months or so, having spoken a lot to the boss, he’s made me very aware that I can come off the pitch having not scored in a few games, but what might keep me in the team is the other work, the other bits of the game, that I’m doing.
"Any striker will tell you they want to be scoring goals, no matter what. They might be having one of their worst games in the world, but if they come off having at least scored, say, in a 1-0 win, they will be the happiest player on the pitch. For me, I’m learning that my role in the team is bigger than just the goals.
"It takes a bit of getting used to, when you hear the staff members telling you it’s not just about the goals, because everything I’d been taught was the complete opposite of that and I need to readjust. It’s a nice feeling that you’re going on to the pitch not telling yourself ‘You’ve got to score today’.
"Instead of that I’m thinking about playing well and doing my job, what is required of me in this particular game. A lot of the time there will be a chance to score and if I don’t take it, so be it, because I’ll know I did the other stuff, meaning I’ve done nine of the ten things I had to do, whether it’s my touch, my work rate, my heading, all that sort of stuff.
"Goals are a part of the bigger picture and I’m never going to sit here and say that goals don’t matter. Any striker saying that would be lying. I’d love to be sat on more goals but at the end of the day we’re second in the league at the minute, we’re playing really good football and if we keep doing that I’ll finish on as many as I finish on.”
Hirst’s two league goals this season see him trailing top marksmen Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead, who each have a tally of five, but fans will appreciate how McKenna looks beyond his scoring record in what he expects of the former Leicester loanee after he signed permanently in the summer for an initial £1.5 million.
The player was reminded about his involvement in two Portman Road goals this season, firstly the one he netted in the 4-3 win over Blackburn, running on to a deep, defence-slitting pass from Cameron Burgess, and the one for which he provided an assist, chasing a long ball from keeper Vaclav Hladky down the left before setting up Marcus Harness to net the first Championship goal of his career in the 3-0 success against Hull.
Hirst smiled: "Of the two I preferred my goal. I’d have to say that and although I liked both moves, I’ve got to pick my goal. I was delighted for Marcus to get his goal and with the part I could play in it.
"That’s what I am as a striker, going through the channels, being physical and strong, and looking to assert myself on the game, so that was nice.
"And obviously, the goal against Blackburn was something that me and Burge had worked on a couple of days prior to the game. I’ll admit we didn’t actually get it right in training but we nailed it in the game so we had a little laugh about that.
"I must have said it a million times in interviews but I’m not really fussed how the ball goes in the back of the net. If it comes off the back of my head and just rolls over the line, that’s as good to me as hitting it from 25 yards and seeing it fly in.
"As a team we’ve scored a few really good goals this season – Broady [Nathan Broadhead], Chappers [Conor Chaplin] and Tayls [Jack Taylor] – and it shows the confidence in the group that we get into these positions and finish.
"Some people probably wouldn’t call them goalscoring positions but we show they are by putting the ball in the back of the net. We’ve got a lot of different threats. We’ve got crosses into the box, through balls, guys who can shoot from distance and it’s just another string to our bow.”
Hirst played second-tier football on loan at both Blackburn and Rotherham but is in no doubt that the best Championship squad of which he has been a part is the one at Ipswich. "Without a doubt,” he said. "Again, like I’ve said before, it’s one of the main reasons I came back here after my loan spell last season.
"When I came back here it sort of felt as if I’d never really left. The way last season ended with the high of getting promoted was followed by everyone going away on holiday and then I signed quite early in the pre-season, so it just seemed as if I’d had an extra week or so before rejoining the group again.
"It never felt like I was away from them for any length of time and it always seemed like just being a matter of time before I returned. That’s how it felt in my head and it was exactly like that when I signed a permanent deal.
"I didn’t need a settling-in period because that happened when I was on loan and I was back where I felt most comfortable.
"It’s just a great place to be. I think if you look at the squad, we have depth in every single position. We have competition for places, which is something that some people don’t like, but here it is healthy because no one gets a chance to rest on their laurels and you know what will happen if you’re not doing it, week in and week out.
"The gaffer is big on the way we train and if you’re not doing it in training, you know there is going to be someone else wearing your shirt at the weekend. I think that’s great for us as a team. It keeps everyone focused, everyone dialled in and keeps it really competitive.
"In the strikers’ department there’s me and Freddie [Ladapo], while Dane [Scarlett] is obviously a part of the group as well now he’s arrived on loan from Tottenham. I think it’s the same all over the pitch, to be honest. There are at least two lads for every position in the team, but there’s no animosity of any sort anywhere in the group.
"It doesn’t matter who’s starting because the others have to be ready to come off the bench and continue the work that the player they are replacing has started. I could come off, Freddie comes on and scores two goals, and we win the game – brilliant!
"To me, that’s why you have a squad and that’s why you have everyone working together in training to keep that culture. No sulkers, everyone on board with it and ready to do their bit when called upon. I think it breeds healthy competition and it works for the general good.”
Hirst revealed his father, former Sheffield Wednesday and England striker David Hirst, is always on hand to pass on advice, adding: "He enjoys watching us live when he can and he watches every single game on television.
"He reckons I should have scored three times as many goals as I have actually scored this season, which I can’t disagree with to be honest. That’s a dad for you.
"He thinks I’m doing well but, like I do, he knows there’s a lot more still to come and a lot I need to work on if I’m going to take myself to a different level to where I’m currently at.
"We speak about the games and it’s nice to be able to do that with him because he can always give me little tips – free of charge – based on what he has seen.
"It’s a bonus to have a dad who has played the game at a high level. I’ve always taken advice from him as somebody who’d been there and done it.
"In my younger days it was often like ‘Here he goes again, what does he know?’ But as I got older and started to understand things better, I started to take it in better and realised he was saying it for a reason, the main one being that he was doing it to help me become a better player.
"He’s been at the very top of the game, so it would be wrong of me not to listen to his opinion.
"I’m a different player to what he was – for starters I’m 6ft 4ins and he was 5ft 11ins – but while he played in a different era and things don’t always translate to now, I’ve still taken on board a lot of his advice, what I feel relates to me, and to have had that on my doorstep has been brilliant.”