Town midfielder Lee Evans has put last season's injury woes behind him to the extent that he has played every minute of every League One fixture in the current campaign.

Evans, 28, missed the final 13 games last term with a persistent knee problem as Kieran McKenna’s men pushed to climb the table and clinch a play-off place, a task that ultimately proved beyond them after they had reacted so positively to the arrival of the former Manchester United first team coach two months previously.

The Welshman, who was signed from Wigan in a busy summer of transfer activity last year, is delighted with the way he has recovered from the injury to cement his place alongside skipper Sam Morsy in the Blues’ engine room.

Evans said: “It’s very pleasing to be playing regularly and I’m certainly enjoying my football at the moment. With regard to my form, I feel I’m in a good place at the moment.

“I’m glad to have put last season’s injury problems behind me and not just be fully fit again but also contributing to what we are achieving as a team and a club. Long may that continue.

“I would probably say I’ve been playing some of the best football of my career since I came to Ipswich and this season I really feel like I’m in a bit of a groove.

“I’m not just enjoying my football but I feel as if I’m thriving in the role that is being asked of me. I’m just keeping my head down, focusing on one game at a time and trying to play my best for this football club.”

McKenna is also delighted to have Evans to call upon, recently admitting that his recovery was a welcome boost as the squad assembled in pre-season, so much so that it felt like having a new player to add to his squad.

“I can see what he means,” added Evans. “Last season was a little bit disappointing in the way that it ended, especially after the impact the manager made after he came in back in December and how exciting a time it was at the club.

“We were all enjoying what he was bringing to the club. He put me in a position where I believe I can play my best football and it all started so positively after he took charge.

“Then I picked up my injury and my season ended in February. I’ve come back and not missed a minute, so I see where the gaffer is coming from.

“But I’m just one of the players and we’re all committed to the cause, doing our utmost to deliver what everyone wants. The core of the squad has been in place since the manager came in and we talked in the summer about making a fast start to the new season, which we managed to do.

“I came back with the intention of showing I was over my injury and to show what I could do after what had been a tough time for me.

“It had been a niggly injury and I tried to come back too quickly from it because I believed we had a chance of getting into the play-offs.

“Unfortunately, I only ended up making it worse, so my target when I returned fully fit was to have a shirt and be in the starting line-up for the first game of the season.”

Evans has netted twice this season and, since he has never scored more than five league goals in any season with his former clubs, it suggests he should be able to make this his highest-scoring season so far as Town pursue their target of promotion.

His second came in the recent 2-0 home win over Bristol Rovers, the club who rejected him as a youngster, when he smashed a low 25-yard shot beyond the visiting keeper soon after the restart to relax the Portman Road mood as until then Town, who led through Conor Chaplin’s first-half strike, had struggled to score the additional goal their superiority deserved.

Asked where that rated alongside his previous goals, Evans added: “Obviously, it was a bit sentimental to me because of what happened with Bristol Rovers when I was young and they released me when I was 15.

“That was a nice one to score and I’m looking to contribute goals whenever I can. It maybe wasn’t the best of my career but it was good to get a clean contact and see it go in. And you know what they say — they all count.”

Is boss McKenna looking for more of his players to try their luck from distance? Evans said: “It’s probably something that we could try to do more often but we’re doing well with trying to get that extra player into more dangerous areas and looking to get on the end of cutbacks and crosses in the box.

“We’ve scored a lot of goals from that this season, although you need to have different ways of scoring, a bit of both you might say.”

Evans is very pleased with the way Town’s summer signings have fitted in, explaining: “I think it has gone really well and the boys who were here last season have tried to help that process by welcoming the new lads on board.

“When you join a new club you are looking to feel a part of things right from the start and we were all conscious of helping them to settle in quickly. Marcus [Harness] has stood out for his goals and he’s been brilliant overall, while Leif [Davis] is improving with every game he plays and looks like an exciting player with a very big future ahead of him.

“Last week at Plymouth we had Freddie [Ladapo] scoring his first league goal of the season. We were all very pleased for Freddie because, although he might not have scored a league goal, he was playing very well, doing a great job for the team and fulfilling the role the manager has asked of him.

“He had scored twice in the Papa Johns Trophy but the one at Plymouth in the league was the one he was waiting for. It was great to see him get on the scoresheet and now that he’s off the mark I hope he goes on to get plenty more. It’s just a pity his goal wasn’t the winner but it wasn’t to be.

“But the general feeling around the squad is still very positive. We’ve had a good start — just one defeat in nine games — but we’re well aware after the last two games that there are areas in which we need to improve.

“At the same time, though, we can look back at all our games this season and recall plenty of positive things that we’ve done really well.

“Of course, it was disappointing to only come home with one point from the two away games at Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth, but we’re very much looking forward to a massive game against Portsmouth this weekend.”

Photo: Matchday Images

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