Midfielder Jack Taylor was delighted to mark his Town debut with a goal as the Blues beat Bristol Rovers 2-0 in the Carabao Cup first round at Portman Road last night.
Taylor, signed from Peterborough for an initial £1.5 million earlier in the summer, stroked home Kayden Jackson’s cross in the 12th minute, Omari Hutchinson having cleverly stepped over as the ball came across.
“It was obviously a great night, but the main objective was to go through,” Taylor said. “In a cup competition you just want to get through to the next round and to get a goal was the icing on the cake for me.
“It was a great goal, we work on patterns like that every day in training, so for it to come off, especially so early in the game was perfect.
“Omari did so well, I thought he was going to swing with his right foot but thank God he let it go to me and I’m delighted to score.”
Taylor says breaking into the area from which he scored is an important element of what he brings to the side.
“That’s a big part of my game, arriving into the box nice and late, getting on the end of things,” he said.
“It was a good pattern of play, we work on things like that every day in training, so to pull it off in a game was perfect.”
The 25-year-old wasn’t too far away from a second, Rovers defender Tristan Crama nodding his looping effort off the line with the visitors’ keeper in no-man’s land.
“I probably should have done better, thinking back at it,” he admitted. “But I think the more it goes on, the more goals I’ll get.”
Reflecting on his first appearance overall, he added: “I’m very proud tonight to put on the jersey, especially in front of a crowd. I didn’t expect so many to come out tonight, which was really good.
“They were so good tonight, they kept us going and I’m looking forward to Saturday now. It was really special, just looking forward to getting out there again.”
Town ran out comfortable winners, despite manager Kieran McKenna making 11 changes from the team which won at Sunderland in the Championship on Sunday.
“Like the gaffer’s said before, we’re so lucky to have a flexible side,” he continued. “Not a lot of teams have got such a good squad depth to put out such a strong XI, especially making 11 changes from Saturday. Just delighted with how we played, we played some really good stuff tonight.”
Despite having signed only a matter of weeks ago, Taylor seemed as settled into the team as players who have been with the squad for the 18 months that McKenna has been in charge.
“I feel like every day in training, the gaffer’s just drilling in how he wants me to play and how he wants me to bring my style to the side,” he said.
“There are still things to work on, but I think we’ll get there and I’m really enjoying my time here.”
His next aim is to break into the Championship team: “Of course, that’s the aim, I want to get into that XI, so I’m going to keep working and hopefully I’ll get there soon.”
Taylor had family watching as he made his Blues’ bow: “My mum and dad were here, so I was very proud to score in front of them.”
While the league is Town’s priority, Taylor wants to continue to progress in the Carabao Cup with the Blues facing a second round tie at League One Reading at the end of the month.
“We want to win every game that’s put to us,” the former Irish U21 international said. “The gaffer said before we want to win every single game so we want to go as far as we can in this. We’ve got a big enough and good enough squad to go a long way, I think.”
Regarding the new £2.5 million Portman Road pitch, which was in use for the first time, Taylor said: “It was perfect. It was in tip-top condition, no complaints from anyone.”