Ipswich Town: Jacob Greaves discusses Premier League pressure

The centre-back joined the Blues from Hull City for a fee of £15 million, becoming a regular starter on the left.

In fact, he’s been named in Kieran McKenna’s lineup for all seven league games so far this season, and while he’s still adapting to the higher level, he claims that he enjoys the pressure that comes with it.

SIGN-UP! Get five months of all our Town content for just £5 - or 40% off a whole year!

“I’ve been enjoying the ride,” he said. “Especially having that pressure on you of playing in the Premier League, I’ve loved it.

“Playing [Manchester City] City away and Liverpool, stuff like that, you’re thrown into the deep end early doors. I really did enjoy it and I try to enjoy it.

“The other side is that you need to win games. I want to be playing in this league for as long as possible, really, and to do that, we need to be winning games and picking up points, which we have been in the first few games.

“We know that we need to continue and try to win games. When you win games, I’d say that you can enjoy the ride a little bit more.”

Asked about the difference between the Championship and the Premier League, Greaves replied: “The individual quality is a lot higher, the athleticism of the players and how hard they can run, just the technical ability as well. It’s just a different ball game, I’d say.

“If you switch off for little moments, passes can hurt you. They’ve got individual brilliance to work chances. You look at the Liverpool game - when they come forward, their passes are so perfect and played into perfect areas.

The defender named Erling Haaland is his toughest opponent so far this season (Image: PA)

“That’s been hard to deal with, but you obviously know that you’re going to face that coming into the Premier League. It’s what’s going to make you a better player.”

One player who epitomises the challenge of top-flight football is Erling Haaland, who’s taken the Premier League by storm since signing for Man City in 2022.

The Norwegian international bagged 10 goals in his first five league games, three of which came against Town back in August. Unsurprisingly, Greaves names him as the toughest opponent he’s faced so far this season.

“He scored a hat-trick in the game,” he recalled. “The finishing ability, the one where he goes through Aro [Muric] and you think ‘oh, I’ve got a chance of blocking this’. He goes around him and is able to lift it over me.

“His strength, how raw he is in terms of his power. I’d definitely say him.

“You have moments in the game where he causes you problems and you look back at them. You deal with them there and then.

“He’s the best striker in the world, so you’re not going to face as good as him week in, week out. However, you’ve got strikers that have different threats. It’s just about how you manage them.

“In the game, I probably tried to get a little bit too tight to him on one occasions. He just rolls you.

“I can definitely learn from that and hopefully I can take it into the next games.”

On the training pitch, Greaves often comes up against Omari Hutchinson, who isn’t quite as clinical as Haaland in front of goal.

That being said, the former Chelsea man did a lot of damage to Greaves’ Hull side last season, scoring a brace in a 3-3 draw at the end of the campaign.

“He caused us a lot of problems, especially in the game at the KC,” the 24-year-old admitted. “He was very good in that game, a stand-out to me. He’s probably one of the best players I played against last season.

Omari Hutchinson scored a brace against Greaves' Hull City side last season (Image: PA)

“Training with him every day, I’ve tried to do a lot more with him in terms of one-v-one’s and stuff like that. I feel like it’ll improve me and it’ll improve him to work on stuff after training, which he likes.

“I enjoy the battle with him and defending against him.”

It helps that he has Dara O’Shea alongside him at the back when it comes to competitive games. The Republic of Ireland international has two full seasons of Premier League football under his belt, having replaced Luke Woolfenden in the starting XI last month.

Greaves has enjoyed seeing their partnership develop in the last few matches, highlighting O’Shea’s leadership as a key element of Ipswich’s defence.

“We’ve only played a few games together, but we kept a clean sheet in the first game – Brighton away, which was big for us,” Greaves argued.

“I think he’s been fantastic in the way that he’s come in and got straight into it. Even Woolfie, when I was playing with him, was brilliant as well. Dara’s come in and done just as well.

“It’s good that there’s two centre-halves that I’ve played with and I get on well with in terms of how we play.

“It’s been fantastic. He [O’Shea] a real leader as well, he’s good with his communication. He keeps me concentrated throughout the game by giving me orders, which I need. Likewise, I like to help him as much as I can.

The 24-year-old has played alongside Dara O'Shea in the last four games (Image: Ross Halls)

“I think he’s been fantastic, so hopefully that can continue.”

Greaves’ versatility means that he might not always be O’Shea’s partner at the back. “Wherever the manager wants to play me, I’ll do my best,” he laughed.

“I played a lot at left-back in the last two seasons. That really helped me, I’d say, in terms of one-v-one defending out wide against strikers.

“The way we play in build-up sometimes, as a back three, I’m more of the wide one. I’ve been in those areas before, so it’s nothing too different for me.

“It’s coming out of your comfort zone that improves you as a player.”

Greaves is still finding his feet in the Premier League. That’ll take time, as shown by a couple of shaky moments against Aston Villa and West Ham. That being said, supporters can already see his quality and have tipped him for big things.

However, he believes that staying grounded is key. He’s taking things one step at a time and simply seeing where his career can take him.

“I’ve never tried to look too much into the future when I’ve been playing,” he explained. “I’ve obviously gone through all the leagues: League Two, League One, the Championship, and now the step-up to the Premier League.

“I’ve just tried to do everything I can, day in, day out, to give myself the best opportunity at this step. That’s in terms of working hard, eating the right things, doing the right things to give myself the best opportunity, so when these opportunities come, I can try and impress.

“I’ll be doing everything I can on the training pitch to give myself the best chance to keep improving and keep my head above water.”