He may still be a teenager but Town loanee Mark McGuinness believes he is a natural leader and looks forward to making his presence felt at Portman Road.

Town boss Paul Lambert has already acknowledged McGuinness’s leadership qualities and the player said: “I think I will continue to be a leader. I know there are plenty of players here who are older and more experienced than me but hopefully when we’re on the pitch we’re working together.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in this group who will see it as anything but constructive. I hope to bring out those qualities and once I get to know everyone I’m sure it will be very comfortable.

“I’m quite vocal when I’m playing and I see that as one of my strengths. Whether I’m wearing the armband or not it just comes out. I definitely like to lead and be a leader on the pitch.”

Tomorrow’s home clash with Rochdale may be too soon for McGuinness to feature in Lambert’s starting line-up, especially as the central defensive pairing of Toto Nsiala and James Wilson have played their part in keeping two clean sheets in Town’s two league fixtures to date, the 2-0 home win over Wigan and last week’s success at Bristol Rovers by a similar margin.

But in a demanding 46-game League One schedule he will be hoping he doesn’t have to wait too long to make what will be his professional football debut, his only first team experience so far coming in the form of a pre-season win over MK Dons in which he impressed and scored an excellent goal.

“I’m not coming here thinking I can just walk straight into the side, definitely not,” McGuinness stressed. “The lads have had two wins and two clean sheets in their two league games, so I’ll be working as hard as I can in training and breathing down their necks to try to get into the side.

Asked about what Town fans can expect to see from him when his time comes, he added: “In my time at Arsenal I’ve always been encouraged to get on the ball and try to start attacks from the back.

“I wouldn’t say I’m an old school defender but I like to defend, to get my head on the ball, make tackles and clear it. At the end of the day that’s my job. I’ve got a bit of both but I love defending.”

McGuinness would also like to use his height and power to contribute goals. “Over the last couple of years I’ve been working on the attacking aspect of my heading,” he said.

“I’ve always felt my defensive heading was good but I wasn’t scoring as many goals as I’d have liked so I’ve put in a lot of work on that side of things to make it another one of my strengths.

“The goal I scored at MK Dons was the icing on the cake for me and it was good for something that I spend a lot of time working on in training to come off.”

Having gained his first experience of playing at Portman Road last month, when he starred in the Arsenal U21 team’s 2-1 EFL Trophy win over Town, he continued: “It’s a lovely stadium and that was a great experience. To get the result as well, that was fantastic, although I know you guys wouldn’t have thought that.

“It’s such a big club and they put out a strong side, so it was really nice to get the win.”

Living away from home holds no fears for the powerfully-built defender, who added: “This is my experience of it but being in a football environment for goodness knows how many years now — I’ve been with Arsenal for nine — I’ve spent a lot of time on tours and stuff like that.

“I like the independence so it’s not something that bothers me. I’m only two hours from where I live anyway so it’s not too far. I actually like to cook and I enjoy it so it won’t be Pot Noodles every day, that’s for sure!”

Photo: Matchday Images

Nobbysnuts added 12:32 - Sep 25 I like the sound of this lad. Just what we needed in my opinion. We will be stronger at the back and a big threat from set pieces....👊 coyb
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mojo added 13:01 - Sep 25 Yes he comes across really well. Good attitude. Not a Billy Big Boots
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NITFC added 13:23 - Sep 25 I've also got a good feeling about this. I just hope that we all get to see him play before the season ends and he goes back to Arsenal
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