Dominic Ball hopes his versatility can help him make up for lost time after the serious knee injury that disrupted his first campaign as a Town player.

Signed after leaving QPR last summer, the unfortunate Ball was ruled out for over four months last season when he ruptured a meniscus in early November.

The injury kept him out until mid-March when he returned to help Town clinch second place and automatic promotion back to the Championship - although his appearances were mainly from the bench.

In all, he made 16 League One appearances but only four of them were starts and Ball, 27, was disappointed he could not make more of a contribution.

He said: “It was tough for me last year because I was so excited to come here, play loads of games and contribute, but it didn’t come until I got back with 10 games to go. Even then, there was still a big part to play, so I was happy to get back for that.

“I came to Ipswich to get promoted and to achieve that was brilliant, even though it didn't happen for me the way I would have liked it to happen in terms of my contribution. But the boys got the job done and that is the whole point of having a squad.

“I've got a promotion now on my CV but of course I would have liked to played more. That's football. It was my first injury in 10 years and I did everything I could to get back and help the boys win promotion.

“I was pushed and I did everything I could to be back. I wanted to be part of it and contribute in some form – coming off the bench for 20 minutes in every game [in the final weeks of the season] certainly helped.

“I didn’t look too far ahead. I just thought to do every single little thing right, which I did. When I came back and got onto the pitch, I felt good. I've maintained it over the summer and my knee feels good. Physically I feel stronger than ever and I'm really looking to push on this season.”

Ball started in the impressive 2-1 win at Deepdale - before being one of seven players rotated at the break - and believes his ability to play as a central defender, full-back and defensive midfielder will help him make more appearances when Town return to the Championship after a four-year absence.

He added: “I’ve done it [playing in multiple positions] throughout my whole career.

“Sometimes it can halt you, but with the way that we play, it’s definitely going to help having players that can play in different positions.

“You could see that at Preston where I played right-back, midfield, centre-half. I’ve played in all of them, so having experience there helps.

“We’re very heavily stacked in there, but I just want to play and contribute. It’s relentless with the amount of games you’ve got, so having a strong squad, like you saw against Preston, is important.”

Ball spent three seasons at Loftus Road so knows the Championship well and believes Town's creativity and ability to score goals - underlined by last season's astonishing total of 101 - gives them a chance of faring well.

Superbly-taken strikes by Conor Chaplin in the first half and George Hirst in the second period earned them the win at Deepdale and but for home keeper Freddie Woodman it could have been more against a team who were in contention for the Championship play-offs last season before tailing off and finishing 12th.

“With goals like that, they going to give us a great chance,” added Ball. “It's not going to be so easy to score and we are not going to go and win 6-0 but with the quality we've got... look at Chappers' goal and Jacko's [Kayden Jackson] work as well, that can make the difference.”

After warm-up matches against Felixstowe & Walton, Maidenhead, Slovakian team Spartak Trnava and Austrian outfit Flyeralarm Admira, boss Kieran McKenna wanted stiffer opposition and a step up in performance - and he got both at Deepdale.

Ball said: “That is what we were looking for, that intensity in both halves, everyone giving it everything for 45 minutes and now we want to do that for 90 minutes. So you can see from everyone, individually and as a team we were at it. It was a good benchmark but there is still a lot of work to do.”

Two different Town teams will face Cambridge United and Stevenage on Saturday before they wrap up their pre-season preparations against Werder Bremen and RB Leipzig in two 60-minute matches in the Innsbruck Cup in Austria on Friday 28 July.

Ball believes the variety of pre-season opposition will stand them in good stead for when the Championship campaign starts with a tough game at Sunderland, - beaten in the play-offs by Coventry in May - on Sunday 6 August.

“Of course, are all the remaining pre-season games are going to present challenges,” he said. “But there are going to be different challenges in the Championship this season so we've got to be adaptable and find solutions in games so having different types of opposition in pre-season will definitely  help.

“There's a good spirit and we like to work hard. We have trained hard and you could see the intensity at Preston.

“We deserved promotion last season but we've got to push even more this year. In every single thing we do the levels have got to go up. We are enjoying it but we are enjoying working hard as well.”

Photo: Matchday Images

DinDjarin added 10:39 - Jul 20 People who were saying Ball would be one who should be released go outside and give your heads a massive wobble.
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johnwarksshorts added 10:40 - Jul 20 Such a good player to have in the squad, where his versatility can be used in a number of positions across the back and centre mid.
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ArchiRob added 11:18 - Jul 20 Passing always looks quality
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TimmyH added 11:53 - Jul 20 He's got to improve on what I saw last season...gave away the ball too cheaply on occasions.
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Linkboy13 added 15:57 - Jul 20 Not seen him fully fit since he arrived could be a surprise package this season especially as he's got experience of playing in the championship. Don't think he will be a regular starter but really useful to bring on to tighten things up in midfield if we are struggling.
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