New Blues head of sports science Andy Costin says he’s excited to be part of the project at Town.

TWTD revealed that Costin was set to join the Blues staff earlier this month having left Bristol City with the club confirming his appointment yesterday.

“I’m really excited to be part of the project which is starting here,” Costin, who was born in Gawler, South Australia, told iFollow Ipswich.

“As head of sports science I’ll oversee the pitch-based as well as the strength and conditioning stuff in conjunction with the head of strength and conditioning.

“That’s my primary role and I’m also doing some work in the data side of things, like recruitment and some other areas as well.”

He says he’s enjoyed his first few days at the club: “Really good, I’ve really enjoyed it. Everybody’s really welcoming, which is lovely. It’s a great place to be. The management team’s really good, so I’m really excited to be a part of it.”

Costin joins Andy Rolls, the Blues' recently appointed director of performance, at Town, who he worked with at Ashton Gate.

“I would guess he was a mentor for me initially,” he reflected. Now that we’re colleagues and have been colleagues I learn a lot from him every day just about the way he approaches the game.

“He’s so experienced in his knowledge, the things he’s won and seen. You can learn a lot from him.”

Costin’s appointment was confirmed along with that of new fitness coach Jon Ashton, who he knows from his time at Stevenage, and he says he’s getting on well with boss Paul Cook.

“I’m really happy to work with Jon again, I worked with him at Stevenage, he’s a great guy and I’m really excited for him to be part of this journey,” he added.

“The manager’s been great. Cooky’s been really good and I’m really excited to see where this goes because he’s hungry for success like we all are.

“That’s not just the management team, it’s the physios and the strength and conditioning guys, the guys that have been here for a couple of years.

“They know how big Ipswich is and they know where Ipswich should be, so it’s really important that we get off to a good start.”

The players are currently away from the club and Costin says they need their downtime ahead of their return for pre-season training at the end of June.

“This rest period is really important and then we’ll start ramping up later in June and try to increase loading and then obviously matches come thick and fast late in pre-season.

“My job is to get us fit and robust. That’s essentially my job, and making sure that the players can do what the manager wants them to be able to do at the weekend.”

Photo: ITFC

Suffolkboy added 20:26 - May 26 Robust - we like !coyb
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Monkey_Blue added 23:30 - May 26 I'm keen for the club to be as up to date as possible…. But a bit unsure where the three roles start and end. I assume we are going to be introducing a lot more tech but I don't think lack of fitness was a problem under MM or Hurst, both of whom got great “data” In terms of fitness. Let's hope this guy helps solve the injury issue that seemed to strike so often with youngsters…. Not so much the older guys.

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Monkey_Blue added 23:39 - May 26 He's not got much a track record though…. Looks in the interview like he can't believe his luck 😂😂😂
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KiwiBlue2 added 00:15 - May 27 Cannot wait for him to be introduced to Bish and Dozzell. Would be great if he can find some time to concentrate on those two as an ongoing project.....
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Monkey_Blue added 02:54 - May 27 KiwiBlue2. Cook has told both of them he doesn't want them at the club and to find another club so doubt this guy will be working with either or Woolfenden, Dobra, kenlock, lankaster et al. Not sure who cook hasn't told to go away.
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ArnieM added 08:47 - May 27 What I'm liking is the thread of commonality and previous history between all members of this “ new” backroom staff. This “ new” infrastructure isn't really new for the individuals that make up this team. They have previous experience of working together . This is every bit as important as the players being a “ team”. It bodes well I'm my opinion .... very well .
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billys_boots added 21:35 - May 27 Sport science covers lots of different areas, so a team with different specialities working together can only be good. But as every gym bunny knows, a strong core or base is vital, so tech and science isn't the answer to everything. The best pre-season training they can do is beach running.
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