Brett Pitman says he has absolutely no regrets about joining Ipswich Town.

The 27-year-old striker opened his Blues account with a headed opener in Saturday 2-1 win at Preston, Ryan Fraser’s sublime winner meaning Mick McCarthy’s men remain top of the Championship table after claiming 10 points from their opening four matches.

It came on the same day that AFC Bournemouth – a club Pitman scored more than 100 times for and helped transform from League Two strugglers to Championship champions – were recording their first ever Premier League win.

“Obviously I could have become the only player to have played in all four divisions for Bournemouth, but I don’t think you can stay somewhere just to get that sort of record,” said the striker. “I want to play and be involved week-in, week-out.

“The manager there (Eddie Howe) couldn’t guarantee me that. He was honest and I was honest and he helped me get this move to Ipswich. It’s something I’m very grateful for.

“I knew Ipswich was a big club, but it’s probably surpassed what I thought. Coming here is a decision I’ve not regretted once.”

With Ipswich showing marked improvements in the early stages of this campaign, both in terms of squad depth and quality, there is growing optimism that last season’s sixth-place finish can be improved upon.

“If I didn’t think we could achieve promotion then I wouldn’t have signed,” said Pitman. “You need a real close, together squad to succeed in this division. When someone is not able to play you need someone who can step straight in and do as good a job. We had that last year at Bournemouth and it seems that we have that here too.

“And the manager is brilliant. If you’re not in the team, like I wasn’t in the first couple of weeks, you feel just as important as someone in the team.”

On flying winger Fraser, who is on a season-long loan from Bournemouth, Pitman added: “It was a great goal. I was right next to him and as soon as he hit it you just knew it was going in. He’s only young (21), but he’s got great ability and playing week-in, week-out this season will really help him.”