Striker Dean Bowditch says he is staying with Town despite speculation linking him with a number of top Premiership sides. Arsenal and Manchester United have long been linked, while a newspaper report just prior to the closure of the transfer window claimed Liverpool were set to make a move for the England U19 international.

Town chairman David Sheepshanks reacted angrily to that report which has subsequently appeared in several other media sources.

Bowditch told TWTD at the end of last season that he was happy to stay at Town and has reiterated his desire to remain at Portman Road: "I really can't see me leaving here and if I do go it will be a few years yet. I like it here and enjoy it here. More than anything, I want to be here.

"I have been here a long time, since I was 10, and the way I look at it Ipswich have invested a lot of time and effort on me, and now I am paying them back.

"If I did leave - if Ipswich accepted an offer I wouldn't have a lot of choice but to go - I would probably be stuck in the reserves somewhere. I don't want that. I want to be playing and even if I'm not doing it week in, week out, here at Ipswich, I'm learning and improving all the time.

"I am just like every other player. I want to play at the highest level and if I do it with Ipswich, so much the better. That's what we are striving for at the moment and it's what I have been dreaming of for years."

Bowditch came on as a late sub in the 2-2 draw at Leicester on Tuesday night and is in the squad for this evening's reserve match at Charlton.

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