Ipswich Town striker Kieffer Moore spoke to the media pre-game for the first time since returning to the club on loan yesterday. He chatted about that return, his first spell at the club - and the race for promotion...
It's fair to say things have changed at Ipswich Town in the seven years between Kieffer Moore's first stint at the Blues and his return on loan in January.
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When he first arrived at Portman Road, for just £10,000 from non-league Forest Green in January of 2017, the decaying club was slowly sliding towards the bottom of the Championship, a decline which would eventually see them mired in League One.
Fast forward to the present day, six years and five clubs after his underwhelming first stay ended, and the Blues are just three games from the Premier League.
Welsh international striker Moore, now 31, was brought in on loan from Premier League Bournemouth in January, tasked with being the man to replace injured striker George Hirst and keep their unlikely promotion push going.
He's done just that, bagging six goals in 15 games back in blue and white.
"I’ve really enjoyed my time here, loved every second of working with the gaffer and meeting up with the lads again – it’s been unbelievable," he said of his return.
Comparing his two spells at Town, he continued: "It’s like chalk and cheese. I wouldn’t say wholesale changes, but the whole vibe of the place is such a positive and amazing environment to be in.
“You could tell that just from walking through the door, straight away it was a completely different atmosphere for myself and you only need to look at the games now compared to when I was here seven years ago, the fans turning out in their numbers, it’s unbelievable.
“The whole dynamic and vibe around the place is so infectious and it’s such a good place to be in.”
Pressed further on that first spell, which saw him make just 11 sub appearances before heading out on loan to Rotherham and then to Barnsley for £750,000, he laughed and branded it 'interesting.'
"No, it was good," he explained. "I think for me in the position I was, I found myself back in non-league before I came here and to come back into the Championship was exactly what I needed at that point in my career.
“Yeah, coming back here didn’t go the way I wanted it to and I was maybe a player in transition at that point, trying to find what my style of play was and what worked best for me, what my strengths and weaknesses are.
“All it took was someone to put a little bit of faith in me and I would say that move coming here was the start of it because it led to a loan to Rotherham and then I worked under a great manager in Paul Warne who brought that out of me.”
He added: "I think that really paved the way for my career, that. It’s been a whirlwind since then, I’ve loved it.”
It's also been a whirlwind at Town in recent times, with the club now on the cusp of back-to-back promotions, against all the odds and the big money, big name sides in the Championship.
"It’s such a tough league and for the lads to have come up from League One last season to find themselves in this position now is a huge credit to all of them," Moore enthused.
“This league can destroy the best of teams at the best of times, so for us to be in this situation now with three games to go is unbelievable and the lads deserve huge credit for that.”
Moore has been here before. Back in January 2022, he moved from Cardiff to promotion-chasing Bournemouth for £2m. He then bagged four goals in the Cherries' last three games, including the strike against Nottingham Forest which clinched promotion.
Asked if he's calling on that experience, and sharing it with his new team-mates, he said: “Definitely, yeah. I get lads talking to me about it all the time and I think the biggest takeaway I can offer is to not overcomplicate it.
“We’ve got to this point of the season by doing certain things, so to change anything now would be stupid.
“Just stick to what we’ve been doing the whole season because it’s clearly worked, think of the bigger picture and just solely focus on the task ahead.”
That mantra comes straight from the playbook of Town boss Kieran McKenna, of course - a man with whom Moore has been very impressed thus far.
"It’s great working with the gaffer," he said. "He’s an unbelievable manager, and his attention to detail is second to none. Training is good – it’s tough, but that’s as it should be.”
McKenna was named Championship manager of the season at the recent EFL awards, news which came as no shock to the Welsh international striker.
"It was definitely not a surprise!" he said. "The attention to detail that the boss has got is unbelievable and you can see it in everything he does.
"The way he delivers presentations, the way he delivers training sessions, the way he goes about his day-to-day business, is top notch and I can really see the gaffer having an amazing career.”
McKenna's already got one promotion on his fledgling CV, and the next week could well see him add another.
And Moore, who's battled a back injury and a heavy workload at Town and for the Welsh national side, will have a key role to play.
The last few weeks have seen him put in a gruelling 120-minute shift as Wales' dream of going to EURO 2024 was dashed by Polish penalties, followed just days later by a busy Easter for Town as the promotion race cranked up.
"It was tough, I think emotionally and physically," Moore admitted.
"I always like to separate the national side and the club side, so I made myself available straight away.
“In my eyes, the team always comes first and if the team needed me I was always available.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it tough physically, but at this stage of the season there’s no point sitting on the sidelines – you need to do everything you can to make yourself available every game.”
A free weekend has seen Town get some much needed rest and recovery, ahead of a huge last week of games which starts at play-off chasing Hull City tomorrow night (8pm).
“The break couldn’t have come at a better time for everyone really," Moore enthused. "We can take stock of what we’ve done and move on from here.”
While fans will no doubt be be wearing their lucky socks and observing all manner of other superstitions as the promotion places are decided, Moore's going to put his faith in a tried and tested formula.
"No, not really. I always like to do the stuff that got me in the positions I’m in," he said, when asked if he had any superstitions.
"I like to call them my little one percenters – extra gym work, extra stuff on the pitch, extra work in and around everything I do daily.”
Regardless of what happens between now and the end of the season, there's one last question which all Town fans would likely want to put to Moore.
Namely, is there any chance of him making this second stay at Town a permanent one?
He replied simply: "I’ve still got a year left at Bournemouth, so I’ll see what happens in the summer.”
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