Ipswich Town goal hero Joe Garner reflected on a successful afternoon for the Blues, as Mick McCarthy’s men got their Championship season off to the perfect start, following a 1-0 win over Birmingham City.

Garner got the only goal of the game, five minutes after the break, smashing home Jonas Knudsen’s left-wing cut-back from eight yards out.

The only sour note on the day was the injury picked up by Andre Dozzell. the England youth international sustaining a serious-looking knee injury towards the end of the first half.

After the game, Garner, a summer signing from Glasgow Rangers, said: “The lads played some good football overall. It’s always nice to score on your debut, but to pick up three points on the opening day is massive.

“It was a great ball in by Jonas, he’s got quality out there, and I managed to slide it in.”

Garner and his team-mates responded well after last Saturday’s pre-season, 6-1 friendly thrashing at League One Charlton Athletic,

He added: “We spoke about that during the week, we had had a tough week in pre-season and you could say it was a wake-up call, but everything we did in pre-season was for today.”

Asked if that was the first time he had scored on his debut, the striker quipped: “I don’t know, I have had that many clubs, but it was nice to score and three points are massive.”