Midfielder Andy Drury says he’s looking forward to returning to his former club Luton Town for this afternoon’s friendly (KO 3pm). The 28-year-old joined the Blues from the Hatters in January 2011 for £150,000.
Drury said: "I was only there for six or seven months but I enjoyed it and played some good football there.
"I got on well with the fans and the people around the place as well, so it’ll be nice to catch up with a few of them.
"It’ll be nice to get some more minutes under my belt. Cambridge was good as well, but I’m looking forward to Saturday."
He says he’s feeling good and getting into the right shape for the season ahead: "I feel relatively fit, it’s just about getting more minutes into my body now.
"I had two 45 minutes in Holland and Cambridge was my first 90 minutes, so it was nice to get that under my belt and hopefully I can get more minutes over the next four games before the season starts.
"I thought we played really well against Cambridge, it was an improvement from Holland and things are looking good at the moment.”
The loan signing of Massimo Luongo from Tottenham has added to Paul Jewell’s midfield options but Drury says he’s happy to fight for his place: "There’s been competition in midfield since I signed here, so I’m used to it.
"You always need a challenge for your place and hopefully I can do enough in pre-season to get the shirt from the first game.”
The ex-Sittingbourne, Gravesend and Northfleet, Lewes and Stevenage man was impressed with the Spurs man at Cambridge: "He did well, we played the diamond and he just sat in the hole, got on the ball, kept it moving for us and did a good job.”
Drury’s move from Luton to Ipswich saw him enter the Football League at the relatively late age of 27. He says the year and half since then hasn’t always been easy: "It’s been tough - not being in the team and going out on loan [to Crawley].
"I’ve had to work hard to get to where I am now. I’ll keep working hard and hopefully I’ll keep the shirt for the season.
"You appreciate it a bit more than you might have done, but all the boys work hard at this club, as far as I’m concerned. We all want to strive to get better and better.”
Meanwhile, Town target Steve Davies is set to be left out of the Derby side facing Burton Albion in a friendly today with the Rams keen to avoid the 24-year-old picking up an injury.
Derby boss Nigel Clough remains confident a deal will be concluded soon with the Blues and Rams having been in negotiations regarding a fee for much of the summer. The Midlanders are believed to have been targeting a figure of around £1 million with Town’s initial valuation around half that.
Squad: Ainsley, Bullard, Carson, Chambers, Chopra, Cresswell, Delaney, Drury, Edwards, Ellington, Emmanuel-Thomas, Hyam, Kourouma, Lawrence, Lee-Barrett, Loach, Luongo, Scotland, Stevenson, Whight.