Noel Hunt admits he has put all thoughts of an international recall to the back of his mind, instead preferring to concentrate on Town’s bid to win promotion to the Premier League.
Capped four times at senior level, but not since October 2009, Hunt has made it clear his priority is to impress sufficiently during the remainder of his contract at Portman Road, which is due to expire at the end of the season, in order to earn an extension.
Hunt, 32, said: "Right now I’ve got whatever is left of the season to prove I’m a good player and that I can play at this level, which I think I can and I think I’ve shown I can.
"Just because a certain person didn’t want me involved in the team at my previous club doesn’t mean I’m not still a good player.
"For now my main aim is to help my new club get to where they want to go. That’s the big thing now. If we get promoted this year it will be a dream come true and there aren’t many who deserve it more than the players and staff here.”
The "certain person” to whom Hunt referred is Leeds’ controversial owner Massimo Cellino, whose appeal against being disqualified as a director by the Football League was recently dismissed and means he has had to step down as a director and cut his ties with the club until April 10th, which is when his conviction for tax evasion in Italy becomes spent under UK law.
But Hunt insisted: "I’m not bitter. The owner has put in his money and he wants to have a say in the team.
"Fair play to him, that’s how he wants it, and to a certain degree I go along with that. If he puts the cash in and wants to have a say in who plays and who doesn’t, so be it.
"It was just a difference of opinion really and that’s football for you. Managers can make or break you and that’s just the way it is. There was nothing else to it.
"I did what I could to get out on the pitch, training as best I could to give myself the best chance possible, but for whatever reason I just wasn’t picked. It’s just one of those things.
"The current manager, Neil Redfearn, was terrific with me. I would ask to play in the U21 games and he would make room for me. He never cast me aside and made sure that all the players not in the first team got good quality training sessions every day.”