Central defender Luke Woolfenden is delighted to be among those still standing after Portman Road’s summer cull and says life at the club is now night and day compared with last season.

Woolfenden played 81 minutes of last night’s 3-3 draw at Colchester, which he felt would have been an entertaining watch for supporters.

“It was a strange game, it was like a basketball game at time, but I’m sure the fans loved it,” he said.

“It’s what pre-season’s about, getting our legs in, everyone getting minutes. It’s not going to be a perfect performance because you’re playing alongside people you never usually do.

“But that’s what it’s all about, getting minutes in everyone and getting back in the rhythm of things.”

The 22-year-old is one of only a few of last season’s senior players to still be involved at the heart of things as the Blues prepare for 2021/22.

“I listen to Elton John, ‘I’m still standing!’,” he sang. “I listen to that every morning!

“To be fair, it’s so much better at the ground now, we’ve got enough staff, it’s night and day how much better it is now and I’m loving every minute of it.

“The players that we’ve brought in, some really, really good players in there. With the gaffer it’s a lot different to how it was last year.

“We’ve got a style of play we’re going to stick to throughout the whole season and I’m looking forward to getting the season started.”

On a personal note, he added: “I had a chat with the gaffer at the end of the season and he said he wanted to work with me in pre-season and throughout this season.

“Last season I had it in my head that I wanted to get in the team and stay in the team, I never had any [thoughts] about going anywhere, I just wanted to stay here and get in the team.”

Ipswich-born Woolfenden is aware that there’s going to be pressure on the Blues in the season ahead with the bookies having them as either joint-favourites to win League One along with Sunderland or second-favourites behind the Black Cats.

“I think you’re playing for Ipswich Town, so you’re going to have the pressure,” the former East Bergholt High School pupil reflected.

“You’ve seen tonight, no disrespect to Colchester, but they’re playing out of their skins because it’s Ipswich Town, they want to put one over on us, and it’ll be the same for every team in League One.

“You’ve got to deal with the pressure and the gaffer has signed players that he knows can deal with the pressure of playing for Ipswich Town, so you’ve got to go out and show you can do it every week.”

Photo: Matchday Images

fransthyssen added 19:24 - Jul 28 Buzbyblue nailed it by saying woolfy needs to grab this chance with both hands because the head shed have faith in him1
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KiwiBlue2 added 04:48 - Jul 29 Sounds like he appreciates the chance that he is being given. It is all in his hands as to how things go from here. If he does not shape up he will be out in January. If he does shape up then he can look forward to a great career with us. I hope that he rises to the challenge......
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Sharkey added 15:58 - Jul 29 ‘No disrespect', but I think he's a bit deluded to think that was Colchester playing ‘out of their skins'. It was a well-organized and pretty experienced team getting minutes into their legs. Second half they knocked the ball about on a good surface and found plenty of space to work with. Morecambe will bring a lot more energy than Colchester expended.
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