Young Town keeper James Pullen is hoping to have done enough in the Worthington Cup match against Middlesbrough to convince manager Joe Royle to keep him in the side at Sheffield United on Saturday.

Although Pullen had a largely quiet night he did nothing wrong and wants to remain in the line-up for the trip to Bramall Lane: "It would be nice to be able to keep my place now but we will have to see, you never know.

"It would have been nice to keep a clean sheet but I thought the whole team played really well. The defence looked really solid and deserved not to lose a goal."

Manager Joe Royle originally announced that he was going to use Pullen as a second half sub, however he told the former Heybridge Swifts man that he was in from the start at 6pm which the stopper says reduced his stress levels: "I was actually more nervous when I thought I would be going on at half-time than when I knew I would be starting.

"I was able to do a proper warm-up and the crowd were fantastic to me which really helped. When I heard them chant my name it helped me settle.

"I did lose my voice after about five minutes which was a bit of a problem as I had to shout a lot but it came back."

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls