NEW boy Sam Parkin breezed into Portman Road today and admitted: “I want to become a firm favourite with the fans.”And the 24-year-old striker, signed from Swindon in a £450,000 deal last week, knows that means scoring goals - and lots of them.

NEW boy Sam Parkin breezed into Portman Road today and admitted: “I want to become a firm favourite with the fans.”

And the 24-year-old striker, signed from Swindon in a £450,000 deal last week, knows that means scoring goals - and lots of them.

He netted 73 in three years at the Wiltshire club and would like nothing more than to record similar statistics now he has arrived in Suffolk.

Parkin said: “In the main the supporters won't have seen me play and won't know a great deal about me. They might be wondering what to expect.

“I can promise, first and foremost, that I will always give 100 per cent and nothing less. Plus, I like good football and in my mind that's what Ipswich stand for.

“I am full of confidence that I can add something to the team in the final third of the pitch. I think my record proves that.

“Now the challenge is to take that record into the Championship and see if I can repeat it there.”

Ipswich boss Joe Royle beat a host of Championship rivals to capture Parkin and free agent Nicky Forster to form a brand new strike force.

Their arrival coincided with the departures of Darren Bent and Shefki Kuqi, who grabbed 39 goals between them last season.

Parkin added: “I am well aware there will be pressure on me to score goals. I know what it's like because I have been through it before with Swindon.

“I can only ask the fans to get behind me and hopefully I will pay them back with goals.”

Parkin and Forster met their new colleagues today as Royle assembled his new-look squad to start preparations for the new campaign.

“After signing last week, this is the day I have been waiting for,” said Parkin, who revealed he has been training alone in London to help ease his way back to peak fitness.

“A full pre-season with the lads is going to benefit me. I'm here from the off, which is far better than arriving half-way through.

“I want to meet the other players and the rest of the staff, then get into the swing of being an Ipswich player. It's something I am relishing.”

Bachelor Parkin's next goal is to find a base in the area, although he intends to spend the first month in an hotel and devote his spare time to house-hunting.

He added: “I live in the south west part of London at the moment and commuting from there is out of the question.

“I did it during my time with Swindon but now I want to get settled in the Ipswich area as quickly as possible.

“Football-wise, I will be working as hard as I can to ensure I'm in the team for the pre-season games and hopefully I'll get a goal or two to send me on my way.”