Essex-born Town goalkeeper Dean Gerken is delighted to be back in the region after a four-year stint in the West Country with Bristol City.

Gerken clocked up 127 senior appearances for Colchester before joining the Robins in the summer of 2009 and going on to make a further 60 first-team outings.

He said: “It’s been a while. I’m from the Rayleigh/Southend area and now I’ve moved up to Suffolk it’s another part of the world where I’ve lived. I’m ticking them off slowly but surely.

“Hopefully, my family and friends will get up to watch as many games as they can — it’s only 40 miles instead of 180, as it was down to Bristol — otherwise I’m not going to be very happy with them!”

Gerken has settled in quickly at Portman Road, a major factor being the number of familiar faces waiting to greet him at Town.

He added: “I was with Woody at Colchester and also Skusey and Ando who came in a bit later at Bristol City. They’re a lively bunch here but they let everyone settle in straight away.

“Cole is one of the most technically gifted players I’ve seen and I’m sure the Ipswich fans are already well aware of how good he is. His performances speak for themselves.

“Ando is one of those players who can make something happen at the drop of a hat and he’s been at big clubs before and done it. They have played a lot of games between them.”

Gerken reflected on his time at Ashton Gate, which ended with Sean O’Driscoll’s men propping up the Championship table and being relegated to League One.

He added: “It was a strange season. City are such a big club and have always had so much potential to do something but it just hasn’t clicked for them.

“There are so many ins and outs to it but I’m just glad to have this opportunity and at such a good, big club as well. Here at Ipswich there are good players, good management, good staff and the facilities are amazing.

“It could hardly have worked out better for me. I was on a free transfer and you never know what is going to happen. I’m not going into details but my time at Bristol City had come to an end long before I actually left. I knew what the situation was going to be and I started planning for it.”

And despite a start to the current campaign that has seen Town take just four points from a possible 15 he is adamant that they will not become embroiled in another relegation scrap.

Gerken added: “I wouldn’t have thought so, no. At the end of the day our performances don’t lie. Generally, they have been pretty good. When you look at our points on the board we should have maybe twice as many.

“If only things had gone our way a bit more. It’s just that little bit of luck, although I don’t like using the word luck, but you could say we’ve been inches away from getting more out of games. Little things have tended not to go our way but that could soon change in the next couple of weeks.”

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