Vaclav Hladky recognises the direction of the conversation and smiles. He is being taken back to Ipswich’s win over Hull this month and his contribution to an extraordinary goal. Leaving two onrushing opponents for dead with a turn and pass deep inside his own six-yard box, he opened up a new angle of attack and watched Conor Chaplin finish off a thrilling move 16 seconds later. The sequence went viral and the goalkeeper’s influence was lost on few. “It was pure instinct,” he says, choosing his words modestly. “It’s on me to pick the right option, and sometimes you have to do something a bit extra.”
Everything is coming off for Ipswich, who have won nine of 11 games in the Championship by playing some of the best football in the country. The same can be said of Hladky, who has faced down ferocious presses and, time after time, opened teams up from the back. He played only seven minutes of league football during Ipswich’s promotion from League One last season but now, a month shy of his 33rd birthday, the Premier League future that had long seemed distant does not appear so far away now.
