Jordan Shipley chatted to the media ahead of our League One clash at Portsmouth.
The versatile midfielder has impressed with five goals and eight assists this season.
But a harsh red card picked up against Exeter has seen him miss the last three games.
Now, though, Shipley is back available and is set to part of the Town squad that travels to take on league leaders Portsmouth on Saturday.
Speaking to the assembled media, Jordan discussed his time out of the squad, working under head coach Paul Hurst and what he is expecting from a Pompy side battling for automatic promotion.
On his time out suspended:
“It was a difficult one, the red card happened pretty early on in the Exeter game so technically I missed four games.
“But the boys have done really well. We haven’t lost since I’ve been away so I haven’t been too much of a miss!
“It was frustrating though.
“I was out with my knee towards the start of the season so I missed a chunk of games there.
“But to not be able to play when there is nothing wrong with you is a different type of frustration.
“But I’m happy to be back now and I can’t wait for Saturday.”
On what training’s been like while suspended:
“It’s been good. I was still training with the lads and doing some extra runs here and there.
“I kept fit, so I am ready to go.
“I did forget (in training) I was suspended a couple of times to be fair.
“Then it started to become a joke. “(People) saying ‘Are you available? No, you’re not available!’
“But I’m back now. A few people had a joke this morning that I’m suspended for another three games.
“Maybe that means we’ll go unbeaten again.
“But I am really excited to get going again.”
On what it’s like working with Paul Hurst:
“He’s great. He tells us exactly what he wants and then we try and execute that game plan.
“He is very different to Matt Taylor before.
“I’m really enjoying playing for him. He is hands-on but not too hands-on.
“Doigy (assistant head coach Chris Doig), does a lot of the training stuff. And the gaffer then puts his mark on it where he sees fit.
“It’s a good combination to have. All the lads are really enjoying it and we are all working hard to add more points to the tally.”
On facing Portsmouth:
“I’m excited. They are top of the league and flying.
“We are going there with the aim of disrupting their promotion charge and hopefully we can pick up some points along the way.
“I’ve played there a couple of times.
“The atmosphere has always been good there. If they score the crowd lifts.
“And if they don’t score and it’s towards the end of the game and it’s 0-0 or we are 1-0 up, then the crowd can get on their back.
“Hopefully we can play on that and we’ll see how it goes.”
