Tribal Football

Ipswich's Hutchinson: I don’t think I’ve had a bad game since the start of the season

Zack Oaten
Ipswich's Hutchinson: I don’t think I’ve had a bad game since the start of the season
Ipswich's Hutchinson: I don’t think I’ve had a bad game since the start of the seasonTribalfootball
Ipswich Town star Omari Hutchinson has opened up about his fantastic start to life in the Premier League and his underappreciated role at the club.

Speaking in the club’s recent press conference, Hutchinson was full of confidence and stated that he thinks he has been great since the start of the season under manager Kieran McKenna.

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“From the start of the season my role has been the same but I’ve been doing a lot of off-the-ball work that people probably don’t recognise and I’m covering a lot of distance,” he said. 

“Sometimes I might not get the goals and assists, but as long as I’m doing off-the-ball and on-the-ball stuff like creating for Liam (Delap) and my wingers to get the goals and assists, it’s okay for me. 

“I don’t think I’ve had a bad game since the start of the season. Obviously the Tottenham and Man United games have been my standout but I feel like I’ve been keeping at a good level since the Man City and Liverpool games. 

“I’m getting better each game and that’s how I want it to progress, last season the same thing happened and I kicked on towards December and January. That’s what I feel like I’m doing now.” 

The 21-year-old was also asked about the difference between the standard in the Championship to that of the Premier League and how he blocks out the noise when things are not going his way. 

“All you can control is the people that are in the building. There’s always going to be noise whether you’re doing well or if you’re not. As long as we’re doing the right things, staying humble, working hard, taking every game as it comes and we’re trying to win games then that’s all we can do. 

“Probably the speed of the play (is the main difference). There’s a lot of fast attackers and especially a lot of fast defenders that are very athletic and physical, so it’s quite difficult to get past them. 

“Then it’s the small margins — if you make a mistake around the box the counter-attack is so quick it can be a goal.” 

Hutchinson says he owes McKenna a lot this season after the manager allowed him to break into the team and challenge himself more than ever before. 

“To be honest it was never guaranteed I was going to play. He said to me you’re going to have to break into the team and prove yourself. 

“I like challenges, I’m a strong believer that I can break into the team with the way I work, the way I perform and with the self-confidence that I have. 

“It was down to that and once I found myself working hard and all the coaches and players saw that, he started to trust me. 

“Obviously I spoke to Kieran in the summer and it was a no brainer not to come here. He’s a coach that knows me very well from last season and I knew I was going to play in the Premier League which is a very rare occasion. 

“I saw that the lottery is easier to win than becoming a professional footballer in the Premier League, so that’s good.” 

 

 

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