Town new boy Janoi Donacien admits a lack of clean sheets this season has been a major contributory factor to the club’s disappointing start to the Paul Hurst management era.

Hurst’s men have only chalked up one defensive blank — in the 0-0 home draw with Bolton — and Donacien, one of 12 players signed by Hurst during the summer transfer window, said: “We really want to keep more clean sheets because if we’re getting them it means we are going to be in a better position to win games.

“We’ve got to be fair and admit it hasn’t been working as well as we wanted it to. We’ve got to put our hands up and say that if the clean sheets aren’t coming it’s down to us and ask where it’s going wrong.”

Now defender Donacien wants the long-awaited first win at Swansea, which was Hurst’s 13th game in charge, to inspire further success over a spell of five games, starting with QPR’s visit to Portman Road on Saturday and continuing with clashes against Leeds, Millwall, Preston and Reading, that leads into the next international break in November.

He added: “To be fair the boys were up before the win at Swansea but since then it has really lifted us and kept us going.

“It has given us a boost to get our first win but we knew we could win games because we were so close on a number of occasions in the past.

“Now we have to keep the momentum going and we have to keep the fans on our side. We have to keep winning and looking like we are playing well.

“Most of our next opponents are around us in the league and it’s natural to think that we can get wins from these games.

“We know the Championship is a tough league but we are confident going into these games and definitely looking for a few wins.

“We don’t want a gap to open up between us and the other clubs. We don’t want to be looking back in February and seeing the gap between us and QPR, say, is humongous.

“We don’t just want to keep the others in our sights, we want to go past them. We want another win on Saturday to make it back-to-back wins and then keep going to improve our position in the league.

“If you look back over our games this season we’ve been close to winning games that we’ve actually lost and we’ve drawn games that we should have won.

“In the Championship I think it’s true that anyone can beat anyone and we feel that on our day we can beat anyone in this league. But we need to keep more clean sheets.”

Donacien has been joined at Town by his former Accrington colleague, Kayden Jackson, whose goals helped their former club to win the League Two title last term, and the defender is convinced his attacking colleague has the ability to carry on improving.

He said: “I believe Kayden can go as high as he wants in the game and I think he will get goals in any league.

“He’s a constant threat going forward, he’s a defender’s nightmare because he’s always on your shoulder and he’s so quick and direct. Yes, he will get goals in this league with this team.

“I know exactly what he can be like because I’ve been on the end of it a few times in training over the last couple of years at Accrington and now at Ipswich.

“We’ve had some great battles and I know that defenders coming up against Kayden are not going to have an easy time of it.”

Donacien also had praise for another striker, Freddie Sears, who caught the eye with a selfless display in South Wales, even if he did not feature among the goals.

“Freddie’s a good striker,” said the St Lucian-born import. “He’s had a couple of groin injuries but he’s worked hard to get fit again and earn his chance. He was looking very sharp in training before the Swansea game.”

Raised in Luton from the age of seven, Donacien joined the Hatters’ academy before a brief spell with Tottenham. It was when he switched to Aston Villa that he progressed to professional level, earning a place on the bench but never registering an actual appearance for the Midlands outfit.

Loan spells at Tranmere, Wycombe and Newport led to a permanent switch to Accrington in August 2016 and he demonstrated his versatility in two seasons there by playing in every role across the back four as the Lancashire club enjoyed the most successful period in their history by winning promotion to England’s third tier for the very first time last season.

Donacien recalled: “It was great to be at Villa. They were in the Premier League and Jordan Graham, now on loan at Ipswich, was there at the same time. I’ve got Villa to thank for putting the foundations in place for me and that’s what has helped to get me where I am today.

“Villa and Ipswich are at the same level now but I can honestly say I have never felt like I had something to prove to them. I left there and still had my ambitions as a player. Anything I’ve done, I’ve done for me and my own career.

“It was Terry Butcher and Russell Osman who took me to Newport. It was only for a brief period but I was grateful to Terry for signing me at a time when I had nowhere to go.

“He really helped me out and I enjoyed the time I had with him and Russell. I was hoping to see him here but that hasn’t happened yet.”

Donacien has already occupied both full-back positions and also featured in central defence for Town this season. He was asked about his favourite position and replied: “I played left-back the whole of last season for Accrington but I believe my best position is at right-back.

“Wherever the gaffer wants to play me, I’ll play there, no problem. I like to support my winger as much as I can and if I can get past him I’ll get past him. I just want to play as many games as I can.

“I’ve played different positions since I’ve been here but it’s not as if they are strange to me. The gaffer knows I’ve played there before, which is why he’s put me in these positions.

“I’d like to play as many games as I can but there’s tough competition because we have a lot of good players here. If you play regularly in one position you settle in that bit quicker. You get used to playing with certain people and you gel with certain people.

“The Championship is a tougher league and the games come thick and fast. The players are a lot sharper but with time, and as long as I keep working hard, I’ll settle in at this level. I’m just like every other player — I want to play at as high a level as I can. I’ll be pushing myself as hard as possible with Ipswich.

“I feel as if I’ve settled in well. I’ve played against some very good players but I believe I have equipped myself well. I think I’ve done myself justice but at the same time I’m also trying to improve as much as I can.”

Photo: TWTD

afrodids added 18:33 - Oct 18 No Sh1t sherlock! 😂
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Dissboyitfc added 19:54 - Oct 18 Clean sheets are important but scoring goals are more the problem!
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