Midfielder Luke Hyam has taken it upon himself to remind his Town team-mates of the importance of the East Anglian derby. Hyam, 22, is the only Ipswich-born player in manager Mick McCarthy’s senior squad and will be fulfilling a lifelong dream if he is in the starting line-up facing Norwich at Portman Road on Saturday.
The former Northgate High School pupil, who is fast approaching a century of first team appearances, said: "I have always been an Ipswich fan. I had the replica shirts, especially when I was at primary school, and I went to as many games as I possibly could.
"I suppose this game has more importance to me than the rest of the lads but they are slowly coming to terms with how big a game it is. I’ve been telling them on a regular basis.
"I don’t think they realise what the rivalry is like between the two clubs. They see Norwich as being an hour and a half away and don’t really understand. I’ve done my best to explain it to them and told them it is probably one of the biggest derbies in England.”
Hyam, who has so far featured 96 times at first team level since Roy Keane gave him his debut at Middlesbrough in the opening game of the 2010/11 campaign, has been waiting patiently for the derby clash to come round.
He added: "It has always been my ambition to play for Ipswich and in particular against Norwich. That’s the one thing I have always said from an early age that I would love to do. It will mean a hell of a lot, to be honest.
"I’ve been in the first team squad for about four years now and I’ve yet to play in an East Anglian derby. As far as I’m concerned I’ve waited long enough and I can’t wait for it to get started — if I’m picked.
"When I saw the fixture list I put out a tweet saying ‘Bring on Norwich!’ and I had quite a few bites from some of their fans.”
Hyam admits he will be more nervous than ever as the big kick-off approaches but added: "The older you get the better you deal with that sort of thing and hopefully on the day I’ll be fine and it won’t affect me. The atmosphere will be incredible and I’m really looking forward to it."