Paul Lambert has been impressed with the attitude of his Ipswich Town players during his first few days at the club’s Playford Road training base.
The new Blues boss took a full training session for the first time yesterday, having initially met the players on Sunday, and was pleased with what he saw from the group as he continues to assess what he has at his disposal.
Lambert has inherited a side that has scored just 11 goals this season and struggled to defend set-pieces but, while he knows that needs to change, the Scot has been impressed with what he’s seen first hand after replacing Paul Hurst as manager at Portman Road.
“It’s ok criticising what’s happened before but I took the lads yesterday (Tuesday) and they were excellent for me,” Lambert said.
“Whether there’s a lack of confidence or there’s fear I don’t know, but hopefully we will get going. We have to play well as a team.
“I’ve been really pleased with their effort and the way they went about things and took it onboard.”
Lambert has been particularly impressed with the standard of the Blues’ young players.
“There are some really good young ones there, some really good footballers who are very tidy on the ball,” he continued, speaking on talkSPORT.
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“They need a little bit of strength in their game but they can play the game. It’s not as if they are novices and they can certainly play.”
Lambert will have just a handful of sessions with his players before his opening game at home to Preston on Saturday, but the Scot knows he must inject some confidence into a group of players struggling at the foot of the table.
“If you go out there feeling confident you can feel unbeatable at times and it’s my job to instil that in them and give them that,” he said.
“I’ll do that the best I can and hopefully they can go out there and play with a freedom and express themselves and excite people.
“It’s not just Saturday’s game. There have maybe been a few games where the lads just haven’t got going and suffered defeats. That’s normal when you’re not winning and that can happen.
“But forget what’s happened in the past, we have to look to the future now. I’m pretty sure there will be a different team on Saturday – whether we will win, nobody knows, but I’m sure you will see a different team.”
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