Tomorrow’s trip to Cardiff should see goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky celebrate a career landmark with his 50th league appearance for the club.
Hladky is the only player to have started every Championship fixture this season, keeping 11 clean sheets in his 36 outings, which puts him fourth behind Illan Meslier [Leeds], Alex Palmer [West Bromwich Albion] and Mads Hermansen [Leicester], who have 16, 15 and 12 respectively.
Signed in June 2021 after one ever-present season with Salford City, the Czech Republic-born goalkeeper has made a total of 61 appearances for the Blues – and the good news is that he is likely to be staying at Portman Road beyond the expiry of his present contract in June this year.
Talks are continuing between the club and the player’s agents, Hladky stating: "There is not much I can say. Obviously, there are negotiations but they can take some time and there is nothing done yet.
"I’m in my ‘tunnel’ and all I want to do is focus on Cardiff tomorrow, which is natural for a player. The stuff around me, I have people to deal with.”
Hladky has plenty of admirers in the game, Scottish giants Celtic were linked prior to the January window, and he would not be short of offers if he became a free agent. But it is clear he wants to stay with Ipswich and continue working with boss Kieran McKenna.
"Kieran is a dream manager for me and I so appreciate being here,” he admitted.
While supporters may dream of Premier League football next season, Town’s one-game-at-a-time mantra remains firmly in place as they approach the final 10 games of what has been an amazing season, which could become even more memorable in the coming weeks.
Asked if he and his colleagues tried not to think too far ahead in terms of what can be achieved, Hladky added: "We can’t hide ourselves from it. We know where we are but it’s more for the media and more for the fans.
"I’m 100 per cent honest, we only focus on the next game, and that’s the biggest challenge we face because if we look too far ahead it’s not going to work.”
Turning his attention to tomorrow’s clash in South Wales, he said: "Every away game is a big challenge. There is no easy game, for sure, and I remember the game when we played against Cardiff at home.
"They were sitting back and waiting for the triggers, so I guess they have to be braver at home and try to find a way to win the game. We will go there wanting to play our style of football.”
Town’s ability to play out from the back, sucking opposition teams in and looking to exploit the space they vacate, has been an outstanding feature of the season so far. But it can often be a risky business and Hladky was asked how easy it was for the players to press the reset button if things didn’t always go according to plan.
He responded: "I’m not going to say it is easy but as far as we are on the same page as players, with the manager, it does become much easier. We are all in it together, trying to help each other, so if something happens, we just basically have to reset and go for another one.
"I wouldn’t say it is easy but we are working on it, plus every other aspect of our game. We have obviously given away a few, but nothing that we have to be aware of. December, January and February are not the easiest of months to play out from the back, especially away from home where the pitches and conditions are not always great.
"But this is the way we want to carry on and you have to stick with your style of football. If you don’t, it’s not you, and you lose your confidence and you can lose the game. So, basically, we have to play through the difficulties and if you stick with your plan, you can get the reward.”
Town found conditions difficult at Swansea last month, a heavy pitch and driving rain proving a real test before they eventually won 2-1, and Hladky added: "Even here at our training ground it is not great conditions all the time but we work on it every day. We are practicing in the heavy rain and puddles, so we are okay with the stadiums like that when we visit them.”
Hladky believes Town’s recent recruitment of loanees Kieffer, Lewis Travis and Jeremy Sarmiento, along with Ali Al-Hamadi from Wimbledon on a permanent deal, provided a timely boost.
"It was a great transfer window in January,” he said. "We brought in four new players with huge impact, as you have seen already. You sometimes have to bring in some fresh ideas and players with experience, so it was a great transfer window.”
Finally, looking ahead, Hladky was reminded Town are facing 10 very big games between now and the end of the season and he smiled: "Brilliant, but first and foremost Cardiff. Not 10 games, just Cardiff.”