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Philogene: My Second or Third Best Goal! - Ipswich Town News

Town winger Jaden Philogene insisted there is still plenty more to come after he netted the Blues’ winner against Stoke City at Portman Road.

Philogene’s excellent strike into the top corner after just two minutes was enough to see Town earn a third successive home clean sheet and see out a 1-0 victory over the Potters.

The former Stoke forward says he is pleased with his current form, and spoke about his off-the-ball work which has been highlighted by manager Kieran McKenna in recent matches.

"A lot more, of course,” Philogene said. "I’ve got to keep focused, working hard and keep going.

"I’ve got to do it both ways. You’ve got to do running back and running forward and I think I do that quite well so I’ve just got to keep going and doing that. I think that comes naturally to me.

"I’ve got to keep playing good, get my head down and keep going.”

Philogene’s goal added to his impressive catalogue so far this season, marking his seventh of the campaign which has seen him climb to the summit of the Blues’ scoring charts.

All seven of his strikes have come on home soil, with cutting in from the left onto his right foot slowly becoming somewhat of a trademark move.

Asked to rank his latest goal, he said: "Probably my third or second! I work on that in training, me and Nacho [Marcelino Núñez]. Give him the one-two and then just set up for the shot.

"When it left my foot, I knew it was going to be a good shot. I didn’t know it was going in but I knew it was going to be a good shot.

"When we’re playing small-sided games or mini-games, we try and do one-v-ones all the time just to practise so it comes naturally in games.

"Getting in the back post all the time because you never know, anything can land for you. I’ve got to keep getting in the box.

"I think the crowd just lifts us all up, to be fair. There’s a big spirit in the stadium when we get on the ball, me and Leif [Davis]. It gives us a boost, but of course I want away goals as well.

"It gives us a boost in the game, but the job is still not done when you score early. We have to keep our mentality and keep the clean sheet like we did today.

"We work on it in training like with me and Nacho. Leif and I understand the game between each other very well. We’ve got to keep that connection going.

"The Norwich goal is probably my favourite so far this season, 100 per cent.

"My weaker foot as well, I need to keep working on my left foot. I think it’s pretty strong right now, but as long as I keep working, I’ll probably get more goals on my left.

"Shooting-wise, probably not, but passing-wise I can work on my left a bit more.”

Asked if he is happy with his current tally for the season, Philogene said: "It’s okay, I’d like a few more. I’ve got my own goals that I won’t say, but double figures of course.”

The former England youth international’s celebration against Stoke involved teammate Cédric Kipré, who both placed a glove on their heads, which the goalscorer says was inspired by one of his idols.

"[Cédric] said he wants to get involved so I said let’s do it then,” he said.

"That’s from my favourite player, Neymar. I saw him doing it when he was at PSG so I thought I’d do it.”

Town’s recent form is impressive, having followed a disappointing pair of results on the road with back-to-back wins against runaway leaders Coventry City and Stoke.

Philogene knows the Blues cannot rest on their laurels, and has not been focusing on the league table that sees Town climb back into fourth position in the Championship.

The 23-year-old said: "I don’t really focus on that, I just play as the game goes on.

"If we keep playing how we’re playing now, I’m pretty sure we’ll do very good come the end of the season.

"We’ve been working hard on and off the pitch with the ball playing out. We’ve got to keep strong, keep going and heads up.

"We have a big squad with a lot of talented players so it’s going to be hard to fit everyone in. Everyone has just got to keep fighting and keep playing. It’s a team sport, it’s not individuals.”

Whenever Núñez is on the pitch, any dangerous free-kicks are given to him, especially since he scored two in one game during the 4-1 victory at Queens Park Rangers last month.

"Nacho’s free-kicks are probably the best I’ve seen, so it will be Nacho of course,” Philogene said of his teammate. "On that left side, it will probably be me next.

"Nacho, what a player man. He’s always smiling and he’s making me smile. He’s a good lad.”

On Town’s trip to Leicester City at the weekend, Philogene concluded: "A big game against a tough opponent. We’ve got to keep playing our game, keep playing well and we’ll see the result on Saturday.”

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