Town defender Luke Chambers is hoping whoever is named the new Republic of Ireland manager will hand him his first ever international call-up. Martin O'Neill remains the favourite to take over from Giovanni Trapattoni, who departed by mutual consent earlier this month.
The 27-year-old centre-half or right-back was born in Kettering but qualifies for Ireland through his Limerick-born maternal grandfather and took up Irish citizenship during his time at Nottingham Forest as he was interesting the international set-up at that time.
He told the Town programme: "It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, to test myself at the highest level and you don’t get much higher than international football. So I’m available for the Republic of Ireland if called upon.
"I’m not sure how widely known it is that I’m available, but I think the previous manager wouldn’t have seen the need to make too many changes to his squad because they have performed very well.
"But I feel that I’m playing some of the best football of my career and hopefully a call-up can follow. It’s not something I’m worried about though, as at the moment I’m fully focused on playing for Ipswich and helping this club progress.”
Meanwhile, former Town loan defender Danny Higginbotham, now at Skrill Premier club Chester, has pledged his international allegiance to Gibraltar, who have recently been granted full membership of UEFA and will be in the qualification process for the 2016 European Championships.
The 34-year-old qualifies for the British Overseas Territory via his grandmother.