Carlos Edwards has explained the importance of his role as club captain even if he has to settle for a place on the bench rather than in manager Mick McCarthy’s starting line-up.
Skipper Edwards, who has a laid-back reputation, said: "I’m basically around the team and when the gaffer needs to speak to me he does. When the players need certain things and they want my vocals to be heard I do certain things.
"I’m not playing regularly but I still try to be a happy chappy, the same old Carlos, the guy that everyone knew from day one when I first came here. I had a smile on my face then and it’s still there. I do want to be playing but I’ll have to wait my time.
"I know that being club captain doesn’t mean I am going to be playing every game and I know I’m getting older and closer to retirement. But the last thing we need is for me to be in the dressing room with a face like a smacked behind.
"If you bring that into the changing room the guys may not say anything to you but they can whisper something to the manager and things might get said the wrong way.
"But the main thing is that I’m happy and what I want most is for the team and the club to succeed. If I’m part of that I would be delighted.”
Edwards will have to wait and see if McCarthy offers him a fresh deal at the end of the season when his current contract is due to expire — but he says he was puzzled by recent reports linking him with a loan move to Wolves.
He laughed: "I don’t have a clue where that came from. I haven’t spoken to anyone and the manager never spoke to me or mentioned it. I swear it was my brother-in-law back in Trinidad who phoned me and told me about it. When I asked him where he had seen it he said it was on some website but it was news to me and I’ve heard nothing more.”