New loan signing Reece Wabara says he would be interested in extending his loan if his initial 93-day spell at Portman Road goes well. The 19-year-old Manchester City man made his Town debut as a late sub in the victory over Brighton last Saturday.
Wabara, who is tipped to push into City’s first team in years to come, says he thinks the Blues will have a successful season and would love to be involved: "I really think the team is destined to do good things this season and I want to be a part of that.
"If I'm playing games and the team is playing well then there is no reason why I wouldn't stay here beyond my initial loan."
The Birmingham-born defender played in the 1-1 reserves draw with Watford on Tuesday, a game he said was his first 90 minutes for seven weeks, having suffered a hamstring injury while away with England at the U20 World Cup in Colombia.
He says it was during that tournament that he first became aware of Town’s interest in him: "The reason I chose Ipswich is because they have a great manager, some great fans and ultimately I think they have a great team.
"The facilities here are fantastic but the most important thing for me is to come and play some football and help the team win games, which hopefully we can do.
"I actually first heard about the interest here when I was away with England, but my agent also told me that Ipswich had been watching me last season as well."
Meanwhile, boss Paul Jewell says he is been pleased with the way the club's five loan players are fitting into life at Portman Road: "Sometimes it takes a while to get to know team-mates, they are living in a hotel away from family — all these things that people don’t see are a factor.
"But they have all settled and if they continue as they have for the last few games we’ll definitely want to keep them.”
The Town manager admits that such temporary signings don't always work, particularly in numbers, but has been pleased with this season's short-term recruits:"I think you can sometimes have too many loan players.
"Sometimes you get loan players at clubs who turn up and, I wouldn’t say not care, but they know they are going back to their parent club. But all these lads we’ve brought in have really grasped the nettle.”
Last week, Jewell said that he would be "foolish not to" try to keep defender Danny Collins at Portman Road beyond his 93 days, while Keith Andrews's half-season loan has always been with a view to a longer term deal.
Photo: Action Images/John Marsh.