The Ipswich players are united in wanting to mark manager Mick McCarthy’s return to former club Wolves with a win.

On-loan goalkeeper Stephen Henderson summed up the dressing room mood when he said: “Obviously the gaffer has been there and we want to put in a great performance for him, as well as for our fans and ourselves.

“He was hard done by there and while I’m sure he’s not bitter about it we’d love to put in a really good performance. I know I’ll be doing my best to keep a clean sheet.”

Henderson has been ever-present during McCarthy’s 11 games in charge since he succeeded Paul Jewell and is no doubt about the new manager’s impact at Portman Road.

He added: “I can’t comment on Paul Jewell because I wasn’t here long enough but I can tell you Mick’s brought confidence and belief — everything that was needed.

“You only have to look at his record, which speaks for itself. I’m sure it’s up there with the top performances of the season. He and TC [Terry Connor] have both been excellent.”

Wolves go into their clash with Town on the back of a 3-0 Boxing Day defeat by Peterborough, a result that caused plenty of unrest among the home crowd.

Henderson said: “That can be a good or a bad thing. But we just need to concentrate on what we do. All we’re concerned about is to keep putting points on the board.

“The win at Charlton on Boxing Day was probably the scrappiest game I’ve played in. Obviously they threw everything at us in the second half but we managed to weather the storm and go on to claim a vital victory.

“A few weeks ago we might have gone one or two down in the first half but instead we went in with a two-goal lead and a clean sheet at half-time and managed to hang on, which was the main thing.

“There has been a change in attitude and mentality, everything really. We’ve changed the way we think and the way we play. We’re smarter, we’re defending a lot better and I like to feel I’m performing better now.

“Everyone is performing better, that’s the difference now. I managed to make a decent early save and I didn’t really have a lot to do. I wasn’t at my most convincing with crosses on the Saturday [in the 1-1 home draw with Bristol City] so I was keen to do better and help out the lads in front of me.

“It’s actually one of my strong points and it’s what I base my game around. I think they would have scored if I didn’t come, so even if I didn’t get there I felt I had to come. It’s not something I’m concerned about. It’s something I thrive on and I’ll be catching them on Saturday.”

Photo: Action Images

reaper added 11:07 - Dec 29 "and I'll be catching them on Saturday.” Hope so! The only major negative point about Henderson is the amount of times he punches the ball out rather than make the catch
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