Town manager Paul Jewell says he doesn’t expect to keep loan defender Reece Wabara at Portman Road beyond the end of his loan which is up after Saturday’s game at Reading. The Manchester City youngster has made one start and five sub appearances since joining the Blues in September.
Jewell said: "It’s Reece’s last game for us against Reading. He’ll be going back to City. He’s been a bit unfortunate really.
"It’s difficult when a young lad comes in, he couldn’t get into the team at first because we were playing really well, then he came on against Millwall and then Doncaster and he was playing in a struggling team.
"I don’t think he has played as well as he would have liked to. He’s probably done better in the last couple of weeks in training.”
Despite this, the Blues boss says Wabara will have benefited from his 93 days in Suffolk: "Whatever happens to Reece, and he’ll have his own view on it, but it’s probably been an eye-opener for him to how first team football works.
"I think sometimes it does these lads who have had reserve team football at top clubs the world of good to come out and see what the real world’s like.
"This is a great club and a lot of clubs haven’t got the facilities that we’ve got. Sometimes players in academies can get cocooned and all of a sudden they’re 22 or 23 and they’ve been in academies since they were 14 and have played something like six league games.
"It will benefit him in the long run to have seen what it’s like to be at a Championship club and how difficult it is.”
The player himself is looking to end his spell with a victory, tweeting: "Last day and game for Ipswich. Hopefully get three points and leave on a high."
Yesterday, England U20 international Wabara revealed that he has been named in the provisional Team GB squad for next summer’s Olympics.