Ipswich forward George Hirst says Town's summer recruits have bought into the club's culture and believes the increased competition for places is only pushing everyone in the squad to perform better.

Having arrived at Portman Road initially on loan in January 2023 before joining permanently the following July, Hirst is one of 11 members remaining in the first team squad who played a part in both of Town's back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League over the past two seasons.

Many of those 11 have found their chances more limited since the arrival of twelve new signings this summer. But Hirst, who made the most of his first Premier League start with a goal away at Brentford last week, has commended Town's recruitment team for bringing in the right characters and says everyone in the squad is focused on working to earn their opportunities on the pitch.

“I think we've got a real good changing room,” he said. “No matter who's playing and who's not, we don't have any sulkers or any toxic players in the group. We have a team of boys who understand that if you're doing the right things, you're going to get your chance.

“Of course lads are disappointed when they don't play and that's part and parcel. You wouldn't expect anything less, everybody wants to play.

“But I think for me, it's very much healthy. It keeps you sharp, it keeps you switched on. You know you can't rest even for a day because that one day you do rest or maybe don't train as well as you possibly could, that might be the day the gaffer is picking the team in his head, and you've just played your way out of it a little bit. I think we've got a great squad for that, and long may it continue.”

Town's summer transfer business in preparation for their first season in the Premier League for 22 years represented the biggest change to the first team squad since the summer of 2021, when the club brought in 19 new players under then-boss Paul Cook, with 12 new additions.

But despite the upheaval, Hirst emphasised that everyone in the squad is pushing in the same direction, thanks in no small part to the culture built up at the club.

“Any time you get new boys in the door, I think that's a massive thing that has helped us out over the last two years – the culture we have here and the type of lads we have in the building,” he said.

“I think the staff and the recruitment people did a great job in terms of the characters they've brought in. Everybody has gelled, everybody has fit in and gets along. It doesn't happen a lot in most changing rooms.

“We understood there were going to be a lot of players coming in, and rightly so. We wanted the help, we needed the help after getting promoted. For us, it was a case of when these boys come in, we need to make sure they know exactly what we are as a team, as people, and the culture that we've created at this club.

“It's not a case of if you don't like it then you're not a part of it. If you don't like it, you need to change. This is the way we do things around here, this is how we are as people. Every single one of them has bought into it.”

With Town battling a growing injury list so far this season, opportunities have increased for the club's longer-serving players to make their mark in the Premier League – including for Hirst, who was set up for his goal at Brentford last week by fellow double promotion winner Conor Chaplin.

Hirst acknowledged such established combinations work more naturally on the pitch, but stressed that connections will develop among the newly assembled squad as the campaign progresses.

“For me and Chappers, that's our bread and butter,” he said. “We've got a great understanding on the pitch and everybody can see that. It's not something that just happened overnight. We showed that last season and the season before in League One.

“Obviously when we get out on the pitch, I don't want to say it's easier, but we have these relationships already,” he added. “I don't need to speak to Chappers or to Wes [Burns] as much as you do with some of the new lads. That's just part and parcel – we're still early on in the season, we're still forming these connections.

“All we can do is keep it going on the training pitch, help the new boys where they need help. If we keep doing that then we'll get in the right direction.”

One of the challenges for Hirst getting minutes this campaign has come as a result of the form of £15 million summer signing Liam Delap, who currently sits joint-eighth among the Premier League's top scorers with five goals to his name so far, including one from the bench at Brentford.

But Hirst commended his team-mate and said the competition will help drive both of them to improve their game.

“He's a top lad,” said Hirst when asked about Delap. “For me it's great competition. We both want to play, and there's only one shirt we both want to be filling.

“There's never any needle there, it's just a case of we want to beat each other. Don't get me wrong, we want to be better than each other. I think that's just a healthy thing that runs right throughout the squad.

“He's had a great start to the season so far, but now I've had my chance to take the minutes and get the goal, I feel like that's something that's going to give him another push the same way. When he was scoring, that was giving me another push that I need to be better, and there's things I need to improve on to put myself in those positions.

“It's healthy, and as long as it continues, it means we're both doing something right and helping the team.”

Hirst also offered praise for fellow striker Ali Al-Hamadi, who has similarly found his opportunities limited having appeared in only three of Town's nine Premier League encounters so far this season, most recently in the 1-1 home draw against Fulham.

“Incredible – he works as hard as anyone, every single day,” said Hirst about the Iraqi international. “He's putting the work in, he knows he's probably not had as many minutes as he'd have liked. But he's working every day to change that.

“I think that's all you can do as any player in the squad. The 11 that are going to play tomorrow will be delighted and for others who aren't going to play, there's going to be a bit of disappointment.

“But everyone's in the same position where you keep working hard, you keep doing the right things day in, day out, and you keep improving. Ultimately the change is going to come. So I think he's very much in that frame of mind, as is everybody else.”

Photo: TWTD

flykickingbybgunn added 18:39 - Nov 1 I love this club.
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Hugoagogo_Reborn added 19:29 - Nov 1 What a conssumate professional. If even half the squad had that attitude, we'd be lucky. I suspect Hirst is speaking the truth though, when he said the whole group is bought into the project and is using the lack of involvement as a catalyst to improve and push the group on to better things. COYB.
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Cadiar added 11:04 - Nov 2 Wonder how Hugoagogo knows the attitude of the squad.
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