George Hirst has admitted his experience during a seven-goal loan stint from Leicester last season whetted his appetite to return to Portman Road at the earliest opportunity.

So, when the chance presented itself last month to make the move permanent, he had little hesitation in agreeing a deal, which cost Town an initial £1.5 million fee that could rise substantially in the years ahead should he continue in a similar vein to last term.

Asked if he had made it clear to Leicester that if he was going to be leaving, the only destination that appealed was Suffolk, the 24-year-old said: “I knew in the summer that there was only one place I wanted to be and that was here. This is where my head was at and this is where I felt I would be at home.

“My experiences as an Ipswich player last season made me know I would be comfortable here and I don’t mean comfortable as in resting on my laurels.

“I mean how happy I would be around the players and the staff here because I’d had several months of it last season. Also, off the field, living here with my girlfriend. It just all seemed right.

“As soon as the opportunity arose, I was always going to bite people’s hands off to make it happen. I made it clear this was what I wanted and here I am.

“It doesn’t always happen that you get your own way in football and it’s probably true that you can’t really rule anything out, but I definitely had an idea in my head as to how I wanted things to work out.”

Hirst’s seven goals – six in the league and another in the FA Cup – was a decent return from a total of 23 first team appearances, 16 starts and seven off the bench, and he is delighted to have returned as the club is about to embark on its first second-tier campaign in four years.

He added: “It’s really great to be back. I had such a successful time on loan last season and that’s why I’m back. I feel like I’m in a good place but I’ve been playing catch-up a bit on fitness because I had an extra couple of weeks off in the summer than most of the others. I’m looking for goals and I’ve had a couple in pre-season.

“For me, goals are goals, and it doesn’t matter if they’re in pre-season games or the first game of the season, so I want to carry that on now.

“When the ball hits the back of the net there’s no better feeling. Sceptics might see it differently because it was in pre-season but to pick up the Innsbruck Cup last week from the games against good Bundesliga opposition was a good feeling for all the players involved. Without a doubt, the winning mentality is a good thing to have as the new season gets under way this weekend at Sunderland on Sunday.

“The boys are really buzzing to get going again. As soon as you return to pre-season training and the fixture list comes out you are looking towards the first game and we’re hoping to hit the ground running. It’s a big test against a very good team but we are sharp, ready and looking forward to it.

“These are the type of games that we all want to play in. Without games like this it could be hard to get yourself motivated; if you can’t get yourself motivated for a trip to face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, on the opening day of the season in front of the Sky Sports cameras, you’re never going to get motivated for anything. It’s a massive game and everybody in our changing room knows that.”

Hirst sang the praises of his fellow summer signings, ex-Peterborough midfielder Jack Taylor and Chelsea winger Omari Hutchinson, who is on a season-long loan from the Premier League giants. Both are in contention to make their debuts against the Black Cats.

He said: “It has been good working with them in pre-season and you can see what they can bring to the club. They are both top-quality players and we wouldn’t have signed them if they weren’t. I’ve had a nice relationship with Jack on the training ground and Omari is brilliant, young and energetic, also nimble and with a lot of quality.

“The relationships between players have been built in pre-season and will only get stronger the more we play alongside each other. I’ve built relationships with the likes of Chappers [Conor Chaplin], Broady [Nathan Broadhead] and Wes [Burns] already, from being here for the second half of last season, and the same thing will develop with Jack and Omari, and others.

“You can see the potential right throughout the club, a good culture with good people from top to bottom, so when I was thinking about coming back to sign on a permanent deal it was an easy decision to make.

“The sky’s the limit for this club. I don’t want to put limitations on it because if we carry on following the process, we can get this club back to where it wants to be – and we all know where that is.”

Photo: TWTD

Suffolkboy added 20:40 - Aug 4 Youth, enthusiasm , energy and technique .plus determination and quite clearly great character — he’ll serve us well and is the age and potential KM wants to see here . COYB
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Dissboyitfc added 08:15 - Aug 5 Superb signing I think he will do well this season!
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Karlosfandangal added 16:30 - Aug 5 Every time Town sign a striker I say this is the one and it never seems to work out this way. So I am saying nothing……… but I think…………. His goal against Barnsley was pure class
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