AARON Cresswell believes his fairytale start to life at Ipswich Town should act as inspiration to other young players at the club.

The 21-year-old left-back admits he never dreamed he would settle so quickly at Championship level following a summer switch from League One club Tranmere.

Recently hailed as “probably our best player so far” by manager Paul Jewell, the young Liverpudlian was the only player to start all 14 of the opening games and is already one the club’s top shirt sellers.

Having caught the eye of England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce he only just missed out on an international call-up due to the fact he is 16 days too old, while the EADT understands that Fulham scouts – often at Portman Road to keep an eye on loanee keeper David Stockdale – have also been impressed.

It is therefore not surprising that Jewell moved quickly to hand his rising star a one-year contract extension last week, his new deal now running until 2015.

“The manager has proven he’s a man of his word,” said Cresswell, who was told to earn himself more lucrative terms when he first completed his summer switch – a tribunal later ruling that an initial compensation fee of �240,000 be paid to his former Merseyside employers.

“He’s shown that if you work hard and do the best you can on and off the pitch you will be rewarded. Hopefully every young lad at the club will have seen that because it will be exactly the same for them.”

The attack-minded full-back, who is available again for selection for Saturday’s visit of Doncaster after being suspended for last weekend’s 4-1 defeat at Millwall, added: “I came here just looking to take every training session and game at a time.

“There’s certainly a lot more experienced players in this division. Everyone is technically better, stronger and faster. We have a big squad with lots of experienced players, though, and they have helped me settle in very quickly.”