The year 2023 has been the best, not only of Conor Chaplin’s career in football but also of his life, as he has followed up his scoring exploits for Town by becoming a father for the first time with the recent birth of a son to him and partner Molly.

Chaplin has scored 23 league goals and collected a string of personal accolades this year but he’s quick to point out: “There’s no question it has been an incredible year but there’s still just over a month to go and eight games to play, so it’s far from over.

“Probably, when I’m finished with playing football, I will sit down and look back on my career and 2023 is going to be one of the most eventful and successful years, for sure. It’s not just the goals, we won promotion and we’ve had a great start to life in the Championship.

“On top of that, the little one is approaching his first Christmas and him coming along has just topped it all off.

“I’m very grateful for what has happened but I’m not finished yet, hopefully, because there’s still a lot of football to be played. We’re going to keep pushing for the results and the points, and if I can help with a few goals so much the better.”

Talking of goals, Chaplin was asked to nominate his best of the season so far and he replied: “I think the terrific team goal against Hull stands out. Yes, that’s the one, although I enjoyed the one against Preston as well.

“It’s great for everyone when a goal like that goes in because it’s something we had worked on in training and it’s a great feeling when things come off on match day.

“It’s not always easy for things to come together on the pitch – it takes a lot of hard work and things have got to go right – so it’s a good one for everyone, the manager and his staff plus the players, of course, when it happens.”

With ex-Leicester striker George Hirst having converted Town’s first penalty of the current campaign in the 3-2 home win over Swansea, Chaplin made it clear he is fully in support of his teammate taking over from him on spot-kick duty.

He added: “Yes, Hirsty’s on penalties now and he tucked one away recently against Swansea, so long may that continue. Fingers crossed, it doesn’t change, which will mean he’s burying them.

“There wasn’t really a decision that had to be made. Hirsty wanted to take them, as most forwards seem to do, and I had no qualms about it.

“I’ve taken penalties before here and at some of my previous clubs as well, but I’ve no worries about it – as long as he scores. But if he doesn’t, I’ll still back him to take the next one. I don’t care who takes them as long as they score.”

With Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion their first on the road this season, Town now face back-to-back home fixtures with Millwall at Portman Road tonight and Coventry City, who defeated the Lions 3-0 at the New Den at the weekend, the visitors in three days’ time.

Chaplin added: “Millwall? It will be another tough game. They have had a new manager for their last two games, a big win at Sheffield Wednesday then a home defeat to Coventry, but we’re not stupid and we’ve watched them both.

“It wasn’t really a 4-0 type of game at Hillsborough, nor was it a 3-0 type against Coventry. Despite the scorelines, they were actually quite tight, close games and there were some pluses and minuses in each of them.

“Millwall were fully involved in both but it’s fine margins in this league. On paper it looks like they were brilliant in one game and lost emphatically in the other, but when we watched them back we could see it wasn’t really like that. I see Millwall as a really solid team, a good Championship team and one with some really good players.”

Tonight’s game will be preceded by a minute’s applause to honour former Tottenham, Barcelona and England boss Terry Venables, who passed away at the weekend at the age of 80 and Chaplin has been reading and hearing many tributes to the man who hailed from Dagenham, also home to ex-Town and England manager Alf Ramsey as well as many other major football personalities.

Chaplin wasn’t even born when Venables led England to the semi-finals of Euro 96, where they drew 1-1 after extra time with Germany before going out on penalties, current England manager Gareth Southgate missing the last spot-kick and the Germans going on to defeat the Czech Republic in the final.

He said: “I’ve been reading a lot about Terry this week, many tributes from a lot of prominent football people, and it was clear how highly respected he was in the world of football.

“You only have to read them and hear the interviews about him to know how he was so highly regarded by virtually everyone and especially his players, among them some of the best English players we ever had and who made up one of the most successful England teams we ever had.

“He didn’t just make an impact with England but with his clubs and when he went over to Barcelona he rebuilt them to become champions after a long wait.”

Meanwhile, Chaplin is hoping Town can tonight emulate some of their most memorable performances this season, most of which have highlighted how McKenna’s men – every squad member – have shown tremendous unity for the cause, whether as members of the starting line-up or from the bench.

He said: “That is something that comes from the process we go through every day. It’s very important that we are all on the same page, the manager, the coaches and the players. If you want to get to the same level – and we’re not there yet – everybody has to be in tune with each other.

“That’s massive for us and it’s not just happened overnight. It has evolved over time and we’ve been lucky to have that time together as a group. The way new players come in and eventually adapt accordingly is all part of any success we have had. We all buy into it and because of that we are seeing the dividends.”

Photo: Matchday Images

BlueRuin69 added 18:19 - Nov 29 Chaplin has been outstanding this year!
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