Left-back Aaron Cresswell is looking forward to catching up with an old pal when the Blues take on Preston North End in the FA Cup at Portman Road this afternoon.

He and Preston midfielder John Welsh, a former England U21 international, were team-mates at Tranmere before Cresswell joined Ipswich in the summer of 2011, with Welsh moving to Deepdale a year later.

Cresswell said: “I was with Welshy for about two and a half years, I think it was in the end. He’s a great captain and leader, and also a great player, so I’m looking forward to seeing him.

“When he was at Liverpool he played a few games for the first team and ended up going to Hull.

"He had a bad injury, a broken leg, and after that he filtered down the league a bit. He’s doing well for Preston now and there’s no reason why he can’t get to a higher level.”

Welsh is not the only ex-Tranmere player in the Preston squad but defender David Buchanan arrived at Prenton Park in the summer of 2011 as Cresswell was departing for pastures new in Suffolk.

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