Sure enough, they looked to rough us up, with some meaty challenges flying in. But we’re better than that these days. We’re not easily intimidated. All the visitors achieved were yellow cards.

Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna to use international break to 'regroup' | East Anglian Daily Times

Through the first half, we saw the wonderful, flowing football which has characterised this incredible start to the season. When we’re at our best, teams can’t live with us, even decent sides like Preston. They’re third, don’t forget.

But, unlike the incredibly impressive 90-minute performance on Tuesday evening against Hull, our levels dropped at the start of the second half. Preston dominated possession, and we just couldn’t get our game going.

But that’s when we have the magic of McKenna. Honestly, everything our manager does immediately turns to gold. I think we should call him Midas McKenna.

He made five substitutions, and within minutes every single one of the new arrivals on the pitch had played a part in Kayden Jackson’s neat and tidy, match-clinching goal.

It also says a lot about the strength of our squad. It was almost like we decided to stop messing about and finish the game. We score when we want, as the chant goes.

McKenna suggested that the reason for the sluggish performance early in the second half was down to tiredness after seven games in 21 days. If that’s the case, then the international break has come at the perfect time.

One player who certainly didn’t look tired on Saturday was Brandon Williams. After a difficult start to his Town career, Williams has simply got better and better.

He was brilliant against Preston, aggressive and combative – and what a great goal! I remember Mauricio Taricco scoring a similar one, running the length of the pitch. It looks like Williams is fast becoming a cult hero like the Argentinian.

So, here we are, nearly a quarter of the way through the Championship season, and the table makes very happy reading. Almost unbelievable, in fact.

Eight points clear of Preston in third, and top scorers in the top two divisions. Even the most optimistic of Ipswich fans couldn’t have seen this coming.

I know we should be making the most of this wonderful period, especially after more than 20 seasons in which the fare has been consistently pretty poor. Of course I’m loving it.

But I also have an annoying habit of over-thinking things. It’s the scarring from two decades of frustration, I guess.

My mind wanders to worrying about what will happen if Egypt take Sam Morsy away for a month to the African Cup of Nations?

But then I remind myself that our owners will undoubtedly strengthen in January. Look what they did in the transfer window at the beginning of this year.

They spent money to convert a decent but vulnerable League One outfit into an irresistible winning machine. The mind boggles if they repeat the feat.

We’re already blowing teams away. Look what we did to Hull last Tuesday. Don’t believe the stats. All their shots came after we were 3-0 up.

Equally, we should have beaten Preston by a more convincing scoreline. Their goals were really poor ones to concede.

So I will stop worrying. After all, there is so much to celebrate, so much to enjoy.

We now have a break to draw breath, reflect on an extraordinary couple of months – and look forward to plenty more to come!