Ipswich Town captain Luke Chambers believes he and his players must ‘block out the noise’ in a bid to turn the club’s fortunes around.
The Blues top the early League One table after opening the campaign with two wins, as the club look to right the wrongs of two seasons which have brought relegation and a collapse to 11th in the third-tier table.
Chambers, who has impressed at right-back, knows the club is under real scrutiny following its fall down the football pyramid but knows the best way to combat any criticism is to perform on the pitch.
“I’m enjoying football and I just want to enjoy playing,” the skipper said.
“There’s a lot of noise around this football club for the last few years and we just want to concentrate on what we’re here to do – winning football matches.
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“We need to turn the fortunes of this football club around because the last two years has not been anywhere near the standard expected of the place so we’re looking to do that.
“There is pressure playing for Ipswich Town and we have to handle that. If people want to talk about us then they will and a lot of us have learnt in lockdown that there’s a hell of a lot of nonsense that gets written and said.
“It’s water off a duck’s back.”
Reflecting further on the Blues’ start to the campaign, which has seen manager Paul Lambert implement a new system and consistency in selection, despite a growing injury list, Chambers said: “It’s a great start for us and one we want to build and improve on.
MORE: Ratings - How the Ipswich Town players performed in their 2-0 victory over Bristol Rovers“We’ve shown signs of implementing the things we want to and playing how the manager’s set us up to play. The first half was very even and we maybe lacked a little tempo but we certainly stepped things up in the second half.
“We brought three players on (Flynn Downes, Jack Lankester and Oli Hawkins) today and then even some of the others who didn’t get on show the calibre we have to come into a system that everyone knows.
“It’s difficult when you’re looking for a winning formula but we’ve worked on this for the last 10 weeks and also when the manager first came in. We started really well in the Championship with it but just didn’t score enough goals.
“Today we scored goals from different areas of the team and that’s really important.
“The strikers are creating space for the other boys to get chances and get on the scoresheet. Gwion could have had a hat-trick today and was a little apologetic after the game but he put a right shift in and did really well.”
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