Town have been playing out from the back, successful in the most part, for more than two years, but defender Luke Woolfenden knows all too well that some supporters still struggle to grasp Kieran McKenna’s style.
The style of play has been an important factor in the Blues’ rise from League One to third in the Championship under McKenna’s tenure, with Town scoring numerous memorable goals this campaign that have started all the way back with the goalkeeper in possession.
Woolfenden says the supporters have begun to get their heads around the style of play and that he is not fazed by any gasps from the crowd when opposition sides are pressing the Blues backline.
"I think the majority of them have,” he said. "When I go out anywhere, the majority of people that I see will come up to me and say ‘don’t listen to any of them moaning about getting it forward’ and to be fair I have a laugh about it with the boys now.
"It’s one of them things where people see football in different ways and the majority have got their head around it and appreciate how we play. And the ones that haven’t, I think it’s been two years now so I don’t think they’re going to change.
"It’s about being brave and setting traps, but also disrupting opposition backlines because we’ve got pace in behind and now we’ve got big Kieffer [Moore] up there. If they think they’ve got a chance of winning the ball higher up, then they’re more likely to commit bodies forward and then we’ve got an overload at the top end of the pitch.
"I think we’ve reaped the rewards from that a few times this season, whether it be Burg [Cameron Burgess] waiting on the ball, Vaz [Vaclav Hladky] or me. We’ve scored a fair few goals from doing it.”
Woolfenden says the repetition in training pays dividends to being the successful application of the style on a matchday, but maintains confidence despite some supporters getting nervous in the stands.
He said: "It can be tough. It’s one of them things where you know what you’re doing and you’ve done it enough in training, it’s when the groans then turn into a round of applause two seconds later and you’re like ‘when I do it next time are you still going to groan’ and it still comes.
"Probably the toughest thing for it is that part when it does go right and everyone’s on their feet clapping, we might score a goal but they forget that first build-up part, which they’re not doing if you make a mistake.
"It can be tough but you’ve got to deal with it and we have done the majority of the season.
"We work on it a lot. We had it with Hirsty [George Hirst], but now that big Kieffer’s come in we have that versatility of mixing it up so we’re not predictable, but we have a lot of repetition that helps us.”
He added: "I watched an interview that [Jannik] Vestergaard done the other day and he was talking about how his job is almost easier with the way [Leicester City] play because they’re keeping the ball, passing the ball and he has less defending to do.”
A few weeks ago, the Blues dominated possession in their 4-0 victory against Millwall, so much so that Woolfenden completed 101 of his 102 pass attempts.
However, the former East Bergholt High School pupil disputed the data, believing he should have had a 100 per cent completion rate on the statistics.
"I’m not sure about that one, you know,” he smiled. "I think I know the one and it got a little nick but it still went to where I was passing it. I remember the one, it hit the guy’s stud but it still went to Omari [Hutchinson], so I think it’s 102 out of 102.”
Another key factor in Town’s success playing out from the back this season has been the composure of goalkeeper Hladky, and Woolfenden was full of praise for the Czech glovesman on his impact on the side this season.
"He’s started unbelievably,” Woolfenden said of the shot-stopper. "Walts [Christian Walton] got injured quite late on into pre-season so he probably came into the season not expecting to be that number one. The injury to Walts was unfortunate for him, but Vaz had taken his chance and not looked back.
"He’s comfortable playing out from the back, he’s made great saves and has had a great season.
"In terms of seeing his shot-stopping in training, you see that. But also when we play small-sided games he’s effectively an outfielder, sometimes it goes wrong but the majority of the time he’s flicking it over people’s heads or he’s doing Cruyff turns.
"None of that is any surprise to any of us, we all knew how composed and calm he is on the ball.”
The Blues defender, having been born in Ipswich, was also asked about what it would mean to him to get promoted to the Premier League.
Emotionally, he replied: "It would be unbelievable. It’s a tough question because I’ve never thought of it. Since I’ve been in the first team, we’ve always been in League One trying to get to the Championship.
"Before this season I’ve never really thought about getting to the Prem, but it’s a club that is massive within Suffolk and outreaching that.
"Everyone really wants the club to do well, and the backing that it’s got now it really feels like it’s got that upward trajectory where it could fly and explode.
"I was a kid sitting in the crowd when we lost in the play-offs to Norwich a few years ago and getting relegated from the Prem, it would be unbelievable for me to be from here and I’ve got a lot of mates that are Ipswich supporters. It really would be unbelievable.
"I would’ve been about three or four [when Town were last in the Premier League], but I’ve seen the clips of it. That’s probably why it feels unreal for me because I don’t remember it, it seems so far away but it wasn’t that far away.
"You’ve got that whole new generation of fans that will become even bigger if we get to the Premier League.”
Finally, the academy graduate was asked to reflect on his first East Anglian derby, having played in the 2-2 draw with Norwich City at Portman Road in December.
"I’m really looking forward to the away game,” he said. "Just turning up for the game was probably the part of me that was really proud. It took me back a bit, but I’m quite a relaxed and calm guy so when it came to the game it was just another game by that point.
"But leading up to the game and the drive-in was unbelievable, the atmosphere throughout the game and before it was something special.”