Town boss Mick McCarthy believes midfielder Luke Hyam is now an even better player following his loan spell at Rotherham, the 24-year-old previously having missed almost 11 months of football with a knee injury.
"I’m delighted with him,” McCarthy said. "I think he’s come back better and what’s really nice is that he now appreciates the fact that when I said to him I’d like him to go and have some games out on loan it was for a reason, to get him back here so he was fit to play, not to put him out to Rotherham, out of sight, out of mind and he wasn’t going to get a new contract.
"Footballers are the most insecure people in the whole world, I think. When they’re not playing and contracts are coming to an end everything’s a worry.
"He’s come back, he’s in the team and I think he’s been great. I think he’s been better than when he left, actually.
"I’ve spoken to him this morning, I’ve told him all of that and that I want to sign him again and keep him on his contract.
"He’s got this season and a year left, we’ve got an option on him and we will be taking that option. But we want to take that option and add to it and give him a new deal.”
As TWTD revealed on Tuesday, the Blues are in talks with Hyam about a new contract, although McCarthy says those discussions are still ongoing: "Nothing’s agreed on his contract, we’re just speaking to him.”
He added: "He’s a fabulous professional. If you ever see him train, just the physical specimen of him, the gym work that he does and all his rehab and now he’s doing his prehab before training, his pre-training work.
"He really is a smashing fella, and it’s nice that he’s one of us, as they keep reminding me!”
Hyam himself says the loan at Rotherham, during which time he made two starts and three sub appearances, was a very valuable exercise.
"When you come through the academy, you feel like a young player all the time,” he told the club site. "I have certainly felt that here.
"When you go to another club though, it makes you feel like ‘a footballer’. Rotherham did that for me. It helped me grow up in some ways, on and off the pitch.
"It helped me a lot. It gave me a lot of life experiences, not just football. It has made me feel more confident in everything I do. I feel like I have come away from being a young player now.
"It was the best thing I could have done. It did me the world of good, meeting new people, seeing how another club runs. It also made me appreciate what a big club Ipswich is as well.”