Luke Woolfenden is gunning for a new level of consistency after committing his long-term future to Ipswich Town.
The central defender recently extended his contract with the Blues until the summer of 2025, having enjoyed a real resurgence under boss Kieran McKenna during the second half of last season.
He’s become one of McKenna’s central figures but, having now proven his ability once again, he is determined to produce his consistent best across the entirety of the upcoming season.
“This is probably the most I’ve ever looked forward to coming back for pre-season,” Woolfenden said, having recently returned from a break in Greece.
“If I’d had things my way we wouldn’t have stopped and kept rolling on. A lot of us would have said the same I think.
“As a team we all know that anything apart from promotion would be a failure and a massive disappointment for the whole area.
“For me, I just want to play as many games as I can, stay in the team, not have any dips in form and stay really consistent all season. Even if problems come, hopefully I can bounce my way through them.
“There hasn’t really been a doubt about my ability but the big question mark was about consistency and doing it every week, game after game.
“I’ve had some great purple patches with some really high highs but then some lows as well.
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“But with Kieran here the only way is forward.”
Signing a new deal has highlighted just how stark Woolfenden’s Portman Road resurgence has been, given he was out of the side, often training with the Ipswich youngsters and heading towards a January exit before McKenna replaced Paul Cook.
“It’s a bit cliché but this shows how quickly things can change in football,” he said.
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and all that. It looked like I was done here in January but the new gaffer has come in and I’ve not looked back since.
“This is the most I’ve ever enjoyed my football and there’s a lot to be said for enjoying what you do every day. So that’s a huge part of why I signed.”
Contract talks were initiated by the club before the end of last season, with Woolfenden having little hesitation in signing on for an extra year at his hometown club.
“You do obviously assess other options but my head was always here,” he said. “I have a manager who appreciates me as a player and a great coaching staff who have helped me a lot.
“Why would you want to leave that now? This is probably one of the best places to be in football at the minute.
“With the new owners, Mark Ashton (CEO) and a great manager we can all look forward really positively and try to get promotion.”
Woolfenden’s new deal was another piece of good news in what is an increasingly encouraging summer for the Blues, with Wes Burns extending his stay, work ongoing to improve Portman Road and encouraging season ticket sales which should ensure the Blues average attendances of more than 20,000 once again next season.
Freddie Ladapo and Dominic Ball have already signed and further incomings are on the way.
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Woolfenden, who has appeared in all three of Town’s previous attempts to escape League One, is feeling the positivity too.
“If you spend the afternoon with Mark Ashton you will definitely be excited,” he joked. “He can sell ice to the Eskimos I think.
“But it’s a really exciting time for the club. We have more than 15,000 season tickets sold and we take thousands to every away game. It’s incredible support and we as players are really grateful for it.
“We get 20,000 every week at home and that’s amazing. We have to have belief in our own ability and believe this can be the year.
“It’s going to be tough and we’re all going to need to be together, but we can definitely be right up there.”
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