Chaplin: Fans Made It Feel Like a Home Game Sunday, 23rd Apr 2023 09:43 by Dave Gooderham Conor Chaplin has hailed the Ipswich Town travelling faithful after almost 4,000 fans roared them onto a 3-0 win at Peterborough United — and left them just two wins away from promotion. Chaplin said the Super Blues turned the potentially tricky London Road encounter into sounding like a home game and the players responded with a hugely impressive performance. Wes Burns grabbed a deserved breakthrough in the 17th minute before Chaplin made it 26 for the season - 23 in the league - with a crucial second 12 minutes after the break. Peterborough had little answer, as they were pushed out of the play-off spots, and it was just left to Freddie Ladapo to follow Chaplin in breaking the 20-goal milestone - 16 in the league - with a smart finish in the 82nd minute. Chaplin was full of praise for the goalscorers — and also his defenders including keeper Christian Walton who made some smart stops to deny Ephron Mason-Clark and Jonson Clarke-Harris before the interval. As for the jubilant travelling support, Chaplin said: “It’s fantastic. Especially, when we come away from home and give so many people such joy. It’s incredible. They were absolutely fantastic today. “The message before the game was treat it like a home game — it’s going to feel like that with the noise they make. If we go out full intensity at the start and treat it as a home game, our fans will back us and they did. I think we reaped the rewards of that. “It was another good trip for us and another good trip for the fans. It was exactly how we set the day out and how we wanted it to go. It panned out well. We rode our luck at times, for sure, but I think you have to when you come to good teams away from home. “We have had a fair few of them [statement wins] now. It’s just how we see our team at the minute, we are just taking the intensity right from the start, whether we are home or away. We feel like if we stick to our principles and stay connected out of possession, we are a very tough team to play against. We are proving that at the moment.”  While now having two frontmen on 20-plus goals this season, Chaplin admitted the dressing room applause was first given to Walton after his 21st league clean sheet of the season. The Town keeper and backline thwarted 25-goal League One top scorer Clarke-Harris, whose shirt Chaplin was clutching during his post-match press conference having swapped with his former Coventry teammate. Chaplin said: “Christian Walton made three or four saves today that were top, top saves, point blank. He has been brilliant, so, so good. To have a player like that, in net for you, makes the whole team feel calm. “Those last ditch moments as well, Leif [Davis]’s defending at the back post today was the best I have seen him. He is really maturing as a player. He has so much ability going forward, but defensively he is maturing so much and has come on leaps and bounds. “He was incredible as well. We are solid at the moment but you have to ride your luck some times when you come to a good team — and this is a very good with very good players and players that have scored a lot of goals. I thought we defended, as a team, very well.”  Ever praising of his teammates, Chaplin summed up each goal — singling out both goalscorers and others for huge congratulations. Of Burns’s opener and his goal, he said: “For me, the first goal was the hardest finish of the day. The other two were instinctive but that one, when you have time to think about it, trust me, it’s horrible. “It’s from Broady [Nathan Broadhead]’s shot, the keeper’s parried it and it is skidding all over the place and bouncing. He’s got time to think about it — for sure, that’s the hardest finish. Never easy, those ones. He’s controlled it very well and bobbled it in which is what you have to do with them ones. It was a fantastic start for us. “I managed to finish low and hard through the keeper’s legs. Broady has been brilliant for me, in terms of assists. He is a top, top player — I think everyone can see that. “Like I said about Leif, Broady’s other side of the game has been absolutely brilliant since the first day he came in to where he is now. He has taken to this team so easily. “He is such a good guy to have around the changing room, he is always happy and makes everyone laugh — he doesn’t always mean to. I am so happy for him as he has added so much to us and he is a crucial part of what we are doing.”  The victory was secured and sealed thanks to Ladapo who once again came off the bench to show his predatory and clinical instincts. Chaplin said: “I am very, very pleased for him. He’s not played as much as maybe he would have wanted at the moment, but what he is doing for the team is incredible. “You see what he is like in the box there, how strong he is and how good a finisher he is. He comes on, doesn’t moan, he just runs as hard as he can for as long as he can. “And it’s harder when you come on as a sub, I can assure you, it’s harder to catch your breath. But he keeps going and runs through it — same as all the boys who come on. I am absolutely delighted for him and he deserves it.”  Town now travel to Barnsley before their final home game next Saturday against Exeter and a trip to Fleetwood. With just a maximum of five points needed to secure promotion, Chaplin denied the team were feeling any pressure, revealing: “We are all a very tight knit group, all very good friends, and we have really good messages coming from the coaching staff and the boss so we don’t see it as a tension moment. “We see it as a chance to show how far we have come throughout the season and how far we are on the process that we are on. That’s a big thing for us. “It’s very demanding. Like I said before, we have a manager that goes flat out. The squad is hungry to go — everyone is ready and fresh. “The squad that haven’t played as much recently are training with fantastic intensity and keeping fresh. You can see today with Freddie incredible when he came on, Bally [Dominic Ball] was incredible, Marcus [Harness], Jacko [Kayden Jackson] — the intensity just doesn’t drop. If anything, it gives us another boost. That’s huge, but that’s what we want to do — we want to be the fittest team in the league, and I think we are.” Despite his fantastic season, Chaplin revealed that he wasn’t necessarily going into games expecting to score. He explained: “That’s not my mindset. I am just thinking about working hard. You are going to think I am lying, but I am thinking about winning second balls, being connected when we are out of possession, chasing, harrying, and leading the top end of the pitch as that’s part of my job. That’s what I am thinking about. “Obviously, at the moment, I am confident when the ball comes and I am getting chances, for sure. But it’s not something I am thinking about before games. I need to keep going. “I need to put my foot on the throttle and want more. Goals are brilliant and obviously they make headlines but there are a lot of things that the players do, as a group, that go unnoticed. That’s just as important as goals sometimes.” When asked if he was now confident of achieving promotion, with two wins from the last three games, Chaplin repeated a now-common mantra of simply saying he was focusing on Tuesday — the mouthwatering trip to old club — and fourth place - Barnsley. He said: “I am really looking forward to it. I have lots of good memories, there are loads of good people there, I thought the fans were fantastic with me as well.” While delighted with his first Town hat-trick — in the 6-0 win over Charlton last weekend — Chaplin’s attentions soon turned to the immediate future. He said: “It was special, for sure. My second career hat-trick, probably more special because my family was there — no one was there for my first one as it was so far away in Barnsley. But they are coming Tuesday night, my brother has half-day of school so he is buzzing! “The matchball is sorted already. It’s on the side in my games room at home. I have parked it now and will look at it more at the end of the season. Hopefully a few other things. “There is no point thinking about the hat-trick or the 26 goals until the end of the season. I’ve also not thought about being top scorer in the league. Obviously, it’s there and you get tagged in posts. “But it’s not something that’s a big ambition of mine at the minute. I only have one ambition at this current minute and that’s Tuesday and getting further forward to where we want to be. “I know I have said before that I couldn’t care less how many I score if we don’t get promoted — that’s the only goal. The only goal towards that is Tuesday, I’m not looking at three games left, I’m looking at Tuesday. That’s the same for all the boys in the dressing room. “The job is not done by any stretch. It’s another three points on the board, which is exactly what we want to keep ticking off at this stage of the season. Three massive games to go and all eyes on Tuesday.”
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