Town skipper yesterday signed the deal which will tie him to Portman Road until 2004. The deal had been offered to him before Christmas and talks had progressed smoothly. Matt said: "It's taken a little while to tie up the loose ends but I was always confident we'd reach agreement. I am ambitious to play in the Premiership and I feel this could be our year. The club has the ambition to buy Marcus Stewart, but that made no difference to my decision. Everyone knows how much I enjoy playing for Ipswich Town." What a man!

Town will go into tomorrow's game at Oakwell with Jim Magilton back in the side after missing the last two matches. The Ulsterman will replace Jermaine Wright who is still not showing the form that saw George Burley pay £500,000 for him in the summer. Marcus Stewart is expected to start up front with David Johnson whilst Richard Naylor, who yesterday promised to fight hard for his place, will drop to the bench. Mark Venus is expected to miss the game with a right ankle injury with Wayne Brown taking his place. Worryingly Venus could find himself needing an operation on an ankle that has troubled him since that FA Cup match with Southampton. Manu Thetis is still out with his hamstring problem and Titus Bramble has returned from Colchester with an injury which will keep him from taking a place on the bench.

Meanwhile Mr Psychological Warfare himself, Dave Bassett has suggested that Marcus Stewart is not worth the cash Town have paid for him. Bassett famously had a pop at Town when he was manager of Crystal Palace a few years back with the result that his side were taken apart 4-1. More of the same tomorrow?

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