Boss Paul Jewell says Town’s youngsters would benefit hugely from being sent out on loan to clubs in the lower leagues. The Blues’ reserves beat Southend 4-0 yesterday but the Town manager believes the club’s first and second-year pros would learn far more if out on loan.
Jewell was impressed with yesterday's performance but says the players need a greater challenge than is provided by reserve team games: "I’d like to get some of the youngsters out on loan. I think it’s good for them to play some football that’s going to toughen them up.
"Sometimes reserve team and academy football can be a bit nicey-nicey and sometimes getting them out to a club where perhaps they haven’t got the facilities that we have here opens their eyes and toughens them up.
"I think they can learn more in a month playing at a level that means something than in reserve team football. But they can do no more than win their games.”
Nine of yesterday’s reserves side — Jack Ainsley, Tom Eastman, Shane O’Connor, Troy Brown, Luke Hyam, Billy Clark, Reggie Lambe, Ronan Murray and Conor Hourihane - plus subs David Cawley and Ian McLoughlin, and Jamie Griffiths, who is out with a back injury, are first or second-year professionals and all of them except Shane O’Connor are out of contract at the end of the season. Jewell says he will look to make decisions on their futures - and those of the more senior players in the same position - sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, the Town boss, who confirmed that his former Wigan and Derby chief scout David Hamilton was joining the club yesterday, says that not too much should be read into reserves coach Chris Kiwomya’s recent trips to watch games at Underhill and Roots Hall.
Jewell says his staff are taking in match after match as he looks to strengthen his squad for next season: "If you went to about 20 games at a weekend you’d find someone from Ipswich there at the moment. We’re scouring all sorts.
"We looked at Andy Drury for a while and I think there are some decent players at lower levels who can come and surprise you.”
Yesterday’s victory took Kiwomya’s second string side to the top of the Totesport.com Combination East Division.
Elsewhere, former Town loanee Andros Townsend's loan at Watford has been cut short. The Spurs youngster, whose earlier spell with the Blues was similarly curtailed just before Christmas, was due to remain with the Hornets for the rest of the season.
And ex-Town boss Jim Magilton says he would have signed Celtic's Honduran international full-back Emilio Izaguirre after his trial at Portman Road in 2008 but for excessive demands by agents: "I wanted to sign him but we couldn't meet what his agent was asking for. Ipswich weren't flush at that time and we couldn't get a deal done - I think he had another offer of a trial at Reading.
"I was really excited about Emilio and believed I had unearthed a gem. When I watched him train I thought, 'Oh my God, I've plucked a star from absolutely nowhere.'
"So I was gutted when we had to let him go. Izaguirre was one of the best we'd seen but we just couldn't afford him."
Izaguirre, 24, has impressed since moving to Celtic last summer and has recently been linked with Manchester United and Liverpool.