Lewis Travis is delighted he didn’t opt for the easy way out when it came to leaving Blackburn and spending the second half of the current campaign elsewhere on loan.
The one-time Liverpool academy youngster, who joined the Reds when he was just eight years old, had played 22 times this season for his parent club in Championship and League Cup games, and wasn’t short of suitors when news of his availability became public knowledge.
Travis said: "To be honest, there were other teams I could have joined as an easier option because I probably would have been playing in every game.
"With Ipswich, I knew it was going to be tougher to get into the side and play regularly, but that the potential rewards would be massive.
"I was up for a challenge; there’s no point in always taking the easier option in life. I’m still young and this is a fantastic opportunity. Yes, there’s a bit of a risk, but I’m very happy with the decision I made.
"When I spoke to the manager on the phone before I signed, I could tell he was a very genuine person and that is often hard to come by. When I asked him a few questions he answered them truthfully and it helped me to pick Ipswich.”
Temporary or permanent, January transfer window moves are never as easy as those in the summer for obvious reasons, mainly the longer settling-in period and time to acquaint yourself with your new colleagues in the build-up to a fresh campaign getting under way, which a mid-season move rules out.
Travis said: "I think it’s a bit tougher and I said it in the programme last weekend. It’s just ‘You’re getting in there and you’re getting in there now’. There’s no pre-season so you’re jumping straight in, like I did.
"With a pre-season under my belt, I would have known more about the tactics and the way the manager wanted to play.
"I feel I could have performed better than I have done but that’s not the way it works sometimes. I believe there is more to come from me, at least that’s the way I feel about things and we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Despite the disappointment of being released by Liverpool when he was 18, Travis saw his career take off with a move to Blackburn, where he came under the influence of manager Tony Mowbray and his assistant Mark Venus, with whom the Blues loanee had a chat after the recent 3-1 home win over Birmingham, the former Town players’ current club.
Venus was making his managerial debut as interim boss while Mowbray, with whom he has enjoyed a solid working relationship at eight different clubs, started a period of leave following surgery on an as yet unspecified medical condition.
Travis said: "They were a massive influence on me. Tony gave me my chance at Blackburn and if the club had been managed by someone else at the time it might never have worked out as well as it did. I owe a lot to both of them.
"Tony is one of the nicest guys I’ve met in football and also a fantastic coach. Hopefully, he makes a speedy recovery. I was a right-back/midfielder when I went there and he just told me straight ‘You’ll be playing in midfield’. As long as I wasn’t on the bench, I didn’t mind where he wanted me to play.
"I had a long time at the Liverpool academy and it was a good time, to be fair. They had some top coaches and I feel it’s my time there that has helped to make me the player I am today.
"There weren’t that many in my age group who went all the way through the system but, like I did, a lot of them left and joined other clubs.
"It’s crazily hard to make the Liverpool first team and it’s not easy to find clubs where you can have a career in the game. But it builds character to do it.
"I think it’s a great achievement to find a club in League Two at the age you are when you leave.”
There was a knowing smile on the face of Travis as he was asked about any ‘previous’ with Town skipper Sam Morsy, the highly competitive pair having come up against each other several times over the years and then being reunited at Portman Road a few weeks back.
He laughed: "Yes, we’ve had loads of battles in the past, trying to hurt each other on numerous occasions! It’s really good to be playing alongside him now. He’s a really good player and he helps you out when you’re out on the pitch with him.
"When I was seeing him in the first half of the season and I played against him at Portman Road for Blackburn, I was really impressed, both on and off the ball. He’s a great leader for this team and he’s done fantastically well this season.”