Woolfenden: I Enjoyed the Goal, Gaffer Says I Should Score More Sunday, 13th Aug 2023 09:45 by Dave Gooderham Cool hand Luke Woolfenden set Ipswich Town off to a flyer as Championship football returned to Portman Road – and then backed his manager’s claims that he should be scoring more goals. The classy defender netted his first since December to give Ipswich lift off in their first home game of the season before Kayden Jackson clinched the three points with nine minutes to go. Manager Kieran McKenna and his centre-back were left delighted with the performance and the clean sheet – with Woolfenden admitting the first goal was crucial. He said: “It was a bit cagey at the start – we had the ball, they had the ball – but once we got the first goal, I think we controlled their possession. They had a lot of the ball, but not doing very much with it, and we looked dangerous every time we went forward. “I enjoyed the goal a lot - it’s been a while since I scored. I don’t get many, which the gaffer is always on at me about, so I was delighted to score. “We have a mix-up of free-kicks, sometimes it is whipped and sometimes it is floating. To be fair, Burgs [Christian Burgess] ran round the back of me, which is not something that is usually done, so I thought I would go in and it just landed on my head. I’ll take it. “The set-piece goal has set us up in a good fashion and we should get more of them. It does help massively. The games in the Championship are so tight that one set-piece goal can change everything and open everything up.  “I think it was a game that could have gone either way. They had a lot of possession, a lot of the ball, but I don’t think they had many chances where they could have scored from. “We had a lot of good counter-attacks where we probably could have done better with the final ball.” The goal was Woolfenden’s first in the Championship, but after confirming he had only played six games in the second tier of English football, he admitted he would take that goal-per-game ratio. Delighted with his goal and the performance, keeping a clean sheet was also high on the list of yesterday’s positives and Woolfenden paid tribute to keeper Vaclav Hladky. He said: “We were disappointed not to keep a clean sheet at Sunderland as they had a lot of the ball, but I don’t think Vaz made a proper save until the end – and the one that he parried in the first half. Same again today. “Vaz has been called upon probably in the circumstances that is not ideal for him or Walts [Christian Walton], a couple of days before the season starts. “But he has been brilliant every time he has been called upon since the gaffer has been here. He is a massive, massive outlet on the ball as he is so comfortable with it. “It was brilliant to keep a clean sheet today. They are both very good keepers. To be fair to Vaz, he could probably go and be a number one elsewhere. “But it shows the determination that he has got. He’s got his chance now and he is thriving and playing really well.” While his dream was always to play in the Championship with his hometown club, Woolfenden admitted that it could have been so different – with previous managers Paul Lambert and Paul Cook expressing doubts, whether about his ability or cool demeanour both on and off the pitch. The defender revealed: “There were a few times [when I could have gone] under Lambert and Cook. I played well at the start, then when Cook was here I probably wasn’t playing at all and was trying to be shipped out the door. “When I was playing well, I was always committed to the club and I always said I wanted to get promoted back to the Championship with Ipswich. It didn’t look like that would be possible under Cook as I wasn’t playing. “But I was never really that close [to leaving] as the [transfer] windows were never at the right time when Cook was here – it probably would have been much closer had it been mid-January or the start of the season. “I know there was a lot in the press about ‘demolition man’ and he told everyone they could leave. But he never said that to me. “But I never get too high or too low as football is a game of opinions. Ultimately, the only thing that matters is the gaffer and obviously I’m ticking the right box for him so I’m not planning on changing anything soon. “It does make you more determined. It’s easy to doubt from the outside and the way that I am as a person, I get questions asked of me a lot just because I seem on the outside. “I think the gaffer has probably understood that a lot. Him and Perty [Martyn Pert] have looked into my character and it helps with the way that we play now. “It goes hand-in-hand. His philosophy and style is probably the same as how I want to play football so it has suited me down to the ground. “In my career, I’ve probably had two managers who have understood me and that’s probably when I’ve played my best football – Richie Wellens at Swindon and the gaffer now. “I can’t speak highly enough of both of them, to be fair. But luckily for me, I love being here and even more so now the gaffer is here. I am just thriving at the minute and loving football.”  The season might still be in its infancy but Woolfenden has quickly noticed stark differences between the Championship and League One with Town having to accept less possession than in the last campaign. Woolfenden said: “I think that is something we worked on in the pre-season, in preparation. We knew we controlled a lot of the ball and could see off a lot of attacks in League One quite easily – two or three passes and we had the ball back. “Whereas in the Championship, that’s not the case as teams will have a lot of the ball and there are better players who can hurt you more. “You have to be more switched on and help your mates out and I think the boys have shown that a lot in the first two games. We’ve really run the hard yards for each other.” Portman Road hosted its first Championship game in more than four years and a near sell-out crowd roared Ipswich on to third victory in a week - making them the early leaders of the second tier and booking their place in the next round of the Carabao Cup. Summing it up, Woolfenden said: “It’s obviously important to get off to a good start, but it’s not the be-all-and-end-all. It’s not like we are sitting here thinking we have cracked it. “‘On to the next’ is pretty much what the gaffer said and that’s the way the football has been since however long the gaffer has been here. “We don’t get too high or too low and everyone is just enjoying themselves at the minute. It is sweet being a local lad, but it is early days and we are not getting carried away.”
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