New Ipswich Town signing Luke Matheson says that as long as he's on the pitch for the Blues, he'll never give up and he'll never stop running.
The highly-rated 18-year-old defender signed on loan from Wolves for the rest of the season in a late move on transfer deadline day.
And Matheson, who's primarily a right back but can play left back too, said coming to Suffolk was an easy decision to make.
"It kind of came out of the blue in terms of knowing about it perspective, but once I found out that Ipswich were interested in me and wanted to bring me in on loan it was a no brainer to come here," he explained.
"I spoke with Paul (Lambert) and Lee (O'Neill) on Zoom within 30 minutes of finding out there was interest.
"They told me what they wanted from me and what I could get out of this loan and it was a definite yes on my part. I’m glad that they’ve given me the chance here.
"He said he wanted to see the things that I’ve done previously at Rochdale and Wolves.
"He said he wanted for me to continue my enthusiasm, my hard work, my running up and down the pitch.
"He doesn’t want to take away the attacking side of my game but he also wants me to sprint back and work defensively for the team."
Asked what he'll bring to the Blues, he continued: "I feel like I'm the type of player who's never going to stop running, even when my lungs are burning and my legs are absolutely dead.
"That's something that I hold quite highly in my standards - that never giving up attitude, giving your all because every game is individual.
"It's having that mentality - being proactive, rather than reactive."
He added: "The lads have been amazing with me. I had a few phone calls from players last night and obviously spoke to Paul and a few of the staff last night as well. They’ve really taken me under their wing and I feel at home already to be honest."
Matheson burst onto the scene at League One Rochdale in 2018, becoming the club's youngest ever debutant at the age of 15 and 336 days in the EFL Trophy, before going on to make his League One debut at the start of 2019.
He went on to establish himself in the first team set up and hit national headlines in September 2019 when scoring the equaliser in a 1-1 Carabao Cup draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
And he believes that, despite his young age, his experience in League One will stand him in good stead at Town.
"I made my debut when I was 15 and in year 11 so that was almost three years ago now," he explained. "I’ve done it before, I do have that experience. I’ve played nearly a season in this league until the virus and the lockdown, of course. I think that experience will definitely help me.
"I just want to give my all and help where I can with this team, and I think we can do really well together.
"It’s such a beautiful stadium and it’s absolutely massive. I can’t wait to get out there on the pitch and hopefully play in front of fans as soon as possible."
Matheson made a £1m move to Premier League Wolves last January, and has yet to make his senior debut. But he says he's getting better just by being there.
"I’ve loved every minute of it at Wolves," he added. "I’ve trained with the first-team and with Nuno (Espirito Santo, Wolves manager).
"It’s been a phenomenal experience, training with such a high calibre of player - you learn so much. In just a one or two-hour training session, the amount of content that you can learn is crazy to be honest."
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