Fit-again Luke Varney has spoken of his relief and joy at returning to Town’s starting line-up last weekend for the first time since May last year.
Varney, who was on loan from Blackburn at the time, suffered a ruptured achilles in the first leg of the play-off semi-final against Norwich and was immediately told he would be sidelined for several months.
With his Ewood Park contract expiring in June he faced a bleak future, although the promise from Town boss Mick McCarthy that he would be given a deal at Portman Road once he was fully fit again drove him on during a lengthy period of rehabilitation.
He was named in McCarthy’s reshuffled side for the FA Cup third round clash at home to Portsmouth and eventually made way for Freddie Sears towards the end of a 2-2 draw that means the teams will meet again in a replay at Fratton Park in a week’s time.
Varney, 33, said: "I had made a couple of sub appearances but to get a start and get back into the routine of starting games again has been something I’ve really been looking forward to.
"I must admit that once the game started I didn’t feel as if I’d been away so I was delighted to be back out there.
"We were disappointed with the result but on the other hand I think we need to give a lot of praise to Portsmouth.
"They came and played their game. In the second half we nullified them a bit better and we were a bit more pleased with that.
"It’s a replay, we’re still in the draw and we’ll be going there next week to get a result.
"We’re in the hat and it would obviously have been a lot more disappointing if we’d have gone out.
"We’re still there and we look forward to a positive draw, hopefully [a potential home tie with AFC Bournemouth subsequently came out of the hat].
"I was thinking I might have to leave training for a couple of days but I feel great and I will get stronger for the 75 minutes I had against Portsmouth.
"I did feel a bit out of my depth at the start of the game — the first 10 minutes — but as the game went on I got stronger and half-time helped me when I had a cup of coffee.
"I was probably the only one happy that we got a replay because I’ll get another run-out and it will be nice to go back to one of my former clubs.”