Former Blues left-back Aaron Cresswell is back at Portman Road with Stoke City this evening and the 35-year-old says he has fond memories of his time with Town.

Cresswell, who joined the Potters in the summer after leaving West Ham having been with the Hammers for 11 years, was with Town between July 2011 and July 2014, making 138 appearances, all starts, scoring seven times and winning the Blues Player of the Year award in 2011/12.

“It was a long time ago,” the three-times-capped ex-England international told the Stoke Sentinel. “It was one of my first major breaks in football.

“I spent three years there and we had some wonderful moments on and off the pitch. We were unlucky not to get into the play-offs and get promoted but the club, as a whole, over the last four or five years has had an unbelievable turnaround.

“They had back-to-back promotions into the Premier League and I had a great game last year when it was my last match for West Ham.

“The fans are amazing, fully support the team, get behind the team. They always used to say it was a sleeping giant in terms of the fanbase so I’m really looking forward to going back.”

Stoke have the best defensive record in the division, having conceded only 18 goals, one more than the Blues, who are second in that table.

“We’re 19 games into the season and it’s not really a fluke to have that record at this stage,” the Liverpudlian, who coincidentally played his last game for West Ham at Portman Road on the final day of last season, reflected.

“The work we put in with coaches, with set pieces, all the little details can define a game. We put all our effort into that.

“We’ve got the best record in the league at the minute but we also still know we’re less than halfway through the season and come game 46 we want that record then, not now.

“We are on track to do it and as a defender, of course, you take pride in that, just like attackers do in terms of scoring.”

Like Town, Stoke, who are down to seventh following last night’s matches with the Blues dropping a place to fifth, have a busy schedule ahead of them with seven games in three and a half weeks.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge, as all the squad is,” he said. “I was at West Ham when we had three years in Europe and we were playing on a Thursday, playing on a Sunday and then potentially again on the next Thursday. It’s a challenge but one we’re all ready for.

“Everyone knows this division and I think there are only about four points between 10 spots. If you have a good week and you can win two or three games you can push right up the league. Of course, it can go the other way and if you don’t win you can find yourself a bit further down.

“But, as is always said, we’ve just got to focus on the next game and put all our energy into that and then when that is over move on to the next.”

Cresswell is expecting a strong backing from his new club’s fans this evening: “There’s not been a game when they haven’t been incredibly supportive, home and away. We’ve been in every game we’ve had at home and the support has rallied behind us.

“Away, even the other night at Sheffield [United when they lost 4-0], the support was incredible. Another sold-out away end.

“The Ipswich game is a long, long way on a Wednesday night so from me and on behalf of the team, we’re very thankful for that.”

Regarding the surprise big defeat to the Blades, he added: “The only way to bounce back is to get back on the training pitch, get back to what we know, work hard and it’s an old cliché but we’ve got to put it behind us and look forward.

“The result wasn’t great, the performance wasn’t great, but one game isn’t going to define our season. We’ve got to get back on it now and go again against Ipswich.”

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