Sam Morsy is no stranger to success as a footballer after winning promotion with Chesterfield, Wigan and Town, plus playing for Egypt in the World Cup, but would taking Ipswich into the Premier League perhaps be his number one achievement in the game?

“It would be incredible,” admitted Morsy. “One of the biggest things for me was making my debut in the Football League – it’s very competitive to be a footballer and that was huge.

“When you look back on your career, you tend to look back at your younger days as your best days, believe it or not, but obviously representing Egypt and playing at a World Cup was incredible.

“And there’s the promotions, but to get a club to the Premier League would be amazing. Everybody has worked hard on a daily basis to get us here and the fans have taken to us. Now it’s one last effort.

“The crowd have been incredible to be honest. Even before we were winning most weeks, they have always stuck with us.

“They come in their numbers and the atmosphere has been amazing. I remember the Southampton game and the late goal from Jeremy [Sarmiento]. It was the loudest I have heard it here and we’ve had some amazing times.

“No doubt, they will be there again tomorrow, pushing us like they did the other night at Coventry. It was incredible because we needed them and we’re going to need them again in full force on Saturday afternoon.”

Following the key victory over the Sky Blues, skipper Morsy spoke about the need to block out the outside noise in the build-up to the Huddersfield clash. “Look, if you turn your phone off you get away from the noise,” he smiled. “That’s the reality, isn’t it? Everything is spoken on social media.

“The majority of the lads go home, train, go back to the house, might do a little bit of shopping, might get a haircut, but other than that, like I said, you slow down on social media and don’t need the noise. But we obviously know the expectation level.

“It was a great win at Coventry and we’ve had a couple of days to build into it, which was really beneficial as well. We’ve had a good day’s recovery, a good day’s preparation and now it’s time to give everything we’ve got on Saturday.

“You don’t really want to fall into the trap of talking about what might be. You’ve got a game of football in front of you – Huddersfield are a good team with good players and a really well-respected manager – and professional pride comes into it.

“No team is going to say ‘Here’s three points, we’re not going to try today’. It just doesn’t work like that. We have to fully respect their threat. They’re all good professionals, they’ve had good careers and you get to that level through being disciplined and dedicated. So, we know we’ve got a hard game on our hands.”

Supporters group Blue Action are organising their third greeting of the team coach as it approaches the stadium, as they did for the all-important 6-0 win over Exeter on the final day of last season and again in December for the East Anglian derby home clash with Norwich.

Morsy said: “We’ve had a couple of amazing ones to be honest – Exeter and Norwich – and I’m sure it will be the same again. It’s an absolute privilege for us because one day we’ll all retire and we’ll look back at days like these and go ‘Wow’.

“It doesn’t guarantee we’re going to win the game but it’s just amazing that the fans love us that much and are willing to do all of this for us. It’s just so special and it’s there to be enjoyed.”

Asked how proud Morsy was of himself, his teammates and everyone at the club for managing for taking the club this far, to the brink of rejoining what is labelled the best league in the world, for the first time in 22 years, most of it largely a period of stagnation under previous owner Marcus Evans.

He replied: “I’m incredibly proud because it’s an everyday process. We’ve had lads at the club who have been written off, both last season and this season, but everyone has slowly improved and got better.

“When you’re written off it can be hard, but to get to a good place is about working hard every single day and overcoming setbacks. That’s what the journey looks like; it’s never straightforward.

“So, I’m really proud of the players, even the lads who haven’t played as much as they would have liked – your Dom Balls, your Cameron Humphreys or whoever. These guys have been absolutely brilliant in supporting their teammates.

“Cam is only young but it has been incredible for him as well, the way he trains every day, the way he applies himself; he’s one of the most professional players.

“There are older players as well, like Sone [Aluko]. He probably would have liked to have played more but he’s had a fantastic influence on the squad. I’m proud of everyone really – they’ve all come together and everyone has given it their best shot.”

Has he been thinking about the fact that he could be a Premier League skipper next season? He said: “I haven’t thought about it, to be honest, I really haven’t. When you get older you know how to manage your mind a little bit better and you can only be at one destination at one time, so the focus is just on the preparation, and in the game, give it everything we’ve got, so that whatever happens we can hold our heads high.

“I think, every game this season, we’ve set out to win, whether that be Leicester away, Leeds away, Southampton away, it doesn’t really matter. The expectation is to win the game – that’s all it is. In football you learn very young if you can give everything you’ve got.

“If you can look in the mirror at the end of the day and say you’ve given everything, you can’t give more than that. We know, obviously, the prize at the end of it, so we’re going to give everything we can. We’re going to leave it all out there and we’ll see where it takes us.”

Older fans will probably have seen the build-up in and around the town this week as reminiscent of the weeks prior to Wembley and the FA Cup final in 1978 when Town memorably defeated firm favourites Arsenal thanks to the only goal of the game scored by Suffolk’s very own Roger Osborne.

Town centre shops have prepared Town-themed displays, pubs have been flying the club flag and many schools have joined in by allowing pupils to wear replica shirts as part of a wider scheme – Blue Friday – to allow people to show their support for the club.

Morsy continued: “It’s incredible support from the whole community. Ever since I signed, to be fair, they have been right behind us, so in many ways it’s nothing new.

“Everyone has really supported the club wholeheartedly and it’s amazing to see. It definitely gives us an extra boost when everyone is together and we’re all striving for the same goal. There’s a great connection between the fans and the players; we all love each other.

“It’s not without the bad times as well. It’s not without the bad results, it’s not without the lack of form etc. But ultimately, I think the fans know that the players are giving everything they’ve got and because they know that they will always stick with them.”

There are also social media videos doing the rounds of the club’s chief executive, Mark Ashton, visiting the town’s Gusford Community Primary School, where he was given a raucous ‘Blue Army!’ welcome by young fans, but Morsy added: “It’s probably not really for us players to be honest, to focus on that. We’re not trying to change the world, or whatever, because you can be sucked into that as well.

“Our focus is on playing Huddersfield – how well can we play, how hard can we run, how much can we be together, that’s the main goal.

“If we are successful, everything else will come and so on. For us it’s just the game in front of us really and it’s very easy to be sidetracked and start thinking about everything, but it’s just real focus on the game.

“Huddersfield have a new manager and they’ve got some really good bits as well. He’s a well-respected manager, they’ve got good players and no team is going to be easy.

“Every game is hard in this division and they’re going to come here and have a go. They are going to try to win the game, like we are, and we’ve just got to try to make sure we’re on our A-game.”

Photo: TWTD

BanksterDebtSlave added 19:29 - May 3 Morsy said: “We’ve had a couple of amazing ones to be honest – Exeter and Norwich – and I’m sure it will be the same again. It’s an absolute privilege for us because one day we’ll all retire and we’ll look back at days like these and go ‘Wow’. “It doesn’t guarantee we’re going to win the game but it’s just amazing that the fans love us that much and are willing to do all of this for us. It’s just so special and it’s there to be enjoyed.” Fekkin love you Sam !

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Van_Blue added 19:59 - May 3 Sounds like they appreciate the welcome and use it as motivation, but very clear that it does not guarantee anything except hard work on the pitch and trying to be the best they can be. I think that is all we can ask. Doesn't stop us dreaming tho'.
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bobble added 04:10 - May 4 almost as good as getting into la liga or seria A.......the 1st division in england is a pretty weak division as there are 5 wealthy big clubs and the rest who couldnt get out of the 2nd if they were relegated eg leeds/southampton...
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Radlett_blue added 10:57 - May 4 The real surprise is that Warnock - who had signed Morsy - then let him go after what was a decent season and also that Sam was happy to drop down a division.
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