Darren Ambrose has some advice for in-demand Town team-mates Tyrone Mings and Teddy Bishop: “Don’t be in any rush to leave.”
Hardly a day goes by without the highly-rated duo being linked with some of the Premier League giants, including Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, but Ambrose believes they have time on their side and should stay put for the immediate future.
He said: "The hype around Tyrone and Teddy is well deserved. Tyrone was just establishing himself in the team when I arrived and Teddy made his debut at Derby on the same day I signed.
"They have both been fantastic around the place. The rest of the boys love them to bits and no one wants to see players leaving the club. Big things are coming for those two but hopefully they can stay around for a long time and play in the Premier League for us.”
Academy graduate Ambrose cut short his first spell with Town when he joined Newcastle in March 2003, just weeks after his 19th birthday, in a £1 million deal negotiated by the administrators as the club’s financial problems called for drastic action.
He recalled: "It was a different situation for me. It was March, out of the transfer window, and the club was struggling a little bit financially, as everyone knows. It was difficult for me to say no and I mean for the club as much as me.
"Newcastle were in the top four, a Champions League club, at the time. Every player wants to play at the highest level and I was no different. There was talk of a deal that would have seen me come back on loan but that didn’t come about.
"I wanted to play at the highest level and it was also the case that the deal helped Ipswich out of the problems they had at the time. It wasn’t that I was pressurised by any individual to leave. It was my decision to go and I’ve no regrets at all.
"Joe Royle was the manager at the time. He used to call Benty and me the twins. I loved Joe. As a manager he was fantastic and particularly good to the young players. He rang me when Newcastle came in for me and said he didn’t want me to go. He explained the situation and the way things were financially at the club but stressed it was my decision. I had a great time with Joe.
"A lot has been said over the years about whether I left too early when I moved to Newcastle. Then I had the loan spell back here that didn’t quite work out but now I’m delighted to be here and buzzing to be part of what is a fantastic opportunity to get this club into the Premier League.
"As far as Tyrone and Teddy are concerned they have a fantastic opportunity this year, not only to get to the big-time but maybe to get there with their first club. My advice would be to stick around for as long as possible. Anyway, it’s going to be better for me and the other lads because we want as many great players here as possible.”
Finally, Ambrose saluted the efforts of his defensive colleagues, those largely responsible for the fact that Town share the Championship’s best home goals-against record — a mere seven conceded in 12 league games at Portman Road.
He said: "I feel so safe with this defence and even if we do concede we know we’re still not going to lose because we also have the ability to score. It’s been an unbelievable run that we’ve been on and hopefully it will continue against Derby this weekend and well into the future.”