Blues Brothers Not Always Best of Friends Friday, 30th Jan 2015 06:00 They may be the best of pals now but Town team-mates and brothers, Noel and Stephen Hunt, weren’t always on friendly terms. Noel, 32 and younger by 16 months, revealed how the pair were extremely competitive as youngsters back home in Ireland. He laughed: “Honestly, you don’t want to know. It really was so bad that you’d have thought we were out to kill each other. "We’d have proper punch-ups and it was about 50-50 as to who came out on top. He was older but I would get a couple of slaps in every now and again. “We’re mostly on opposite sides in training, even on different sides of the pitch, so we don’t get much chance to interact. “The training is intense here and if we’re on the same team he will soon give me a rollicking if I’ve done something wrong. I just take it on the chin and look upon it as his way of trying to help me!” The pair were also together at Reading and Noel recalled: “We know each other’s games and in my first season at Reading he probably set up about nine of my 13 goals. “I know what sort of delivery he is going to put in and I always look to get on the end of it and attack it. “That’s my game, making early runs, and lads like Jay Tabb and Paul Anderson are also good with their deliveries. I look to get across defenders and try to score goals.” But Noel dismissed the idea that big brother Stephen played a leading role in bringing him to Portman Road, although he was happy to credit him with a minor part on helping the deal to progress. He added: “I know the gaffer had looked at me and asked about me a couple of times. I’m sure he would have asked how I was, how fit was I and that sort of thing. “So, yes, Stephen probably had a small part to play. It’s great that he is here as well, which makes it a bit of a fairy tale, but we haven’t really done anything yet. Mind you, if we go up it will make it a real fairy tale.” Noel is happy to credit Stephen with keeping his spirits up during his time on the sidelines at previous club Leeds, where he featured in their first two games of the season and then was deemed surplus to requirements and left out in the cold. He added: “When I was having a hard time at Leeds he was always there for me, on the end of the phone telling me keep cool and continue to work hard in training. “It can be easy to get into a lull and go with the flow — you know you’re not going to be playing so you don’t bother putting in the work. “If that had been my attitude I don’t think I would be where I am today, an Ipswich player, and I would still be in the background at Leeds. “Behind the scenes at Elland Road I worked as hard, and pushed myself as hard, as I possibly could to keep my fitness and keep everything intact. I was ready for my chance when it came, both mentally and physically. “It’s been good teaming up with Stephen again and a bit funny too. He’s a good character and he works hard. It’s been good to get back on the same pitch with him and it worked against Millwall. “We’re similar types, I suppose, but we’re different too. He’s more serious than me. The only thing I take seriously is my football.”
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