Town midfielder Teddy Bishop has revealed for the first time the identity of the England star after whom his father decided to name him.
The fact that Bishop followed in his old man’s footsteps and grew up as a fan of Tottenham Hotspur is a major clue — the ex-player with whom he shares his Christian name is none other than Teddy Sheringham, who also won major honours with Manchester United during a glittering career as a player.
Bishop smiled: "My team as a kid was Spurs. It comes from my Dad, who was a Spurs fan and a season ticket holder for 20 years.
"That’s where my name comes from — Teddy Sheringham was my Dad’s hero and named me after him. I used to watch videos of him and I wouldn’t mind scoring goals like he used to.”
The 20-year-old, relieved to have put last season’s injury nightmare behind him, has only netted once in his Town career so far, but admits he is desperate to get among the goals next season, adding: "With me it’s normally a case of when I get one I get a few or I have a drought.
"That’s always been me in my career but hopefully I can get quite a few goals in the new season.
"Our defenders have got a few but we haven’t scored as many goals as we would have liked from midfield. We do a lot of shooting practice in training but all the midfield lads agree we should be looking to step up and score more goals.”
Soon after he made his senior debut in August 2014 Bishop was attracting the attention of several Premier League clubs, with Arsenal said to be monitoring him on a regular basis.
But the player, who first joined up with Town when he was a mere eight years old, insisted he is in no hurry to depart Portman Road.
He said: "I came through the academy here and they’ve all been great to me. I just want to try to repay everyone.
"It’s flattering to be linked with the big Premier League clubs but you can’t think too much into it. I’m here and I’m here to stay so I just want to do well for this team.
"I’ve just got to stay level-headed and play some games. I’m not looking at doing anything else but playing games and doing well for the team.
"We won’t be playing Spurs in the new season, unless we draw them in one of the cup competitions, but maybe next year.
"I can’t wait for the new season and the big games against the likes of Newcastle, Norwich and Aston Villa. I’m looking forward to the game at St James’ Park because I’ve got a few friends who are Newcastle fans. It should all be good experience, all about learning, so it’s good.”
Meanwhile, Bishop has revealed the full extent of the injury that saw him miss so much of the 2015/16 season. He added: "In the end I had a torn hamstring four times and they couldn’t quite work out why.
"But they got to the bottom of it and I’m ready to go. A tendon wasn’t strong enough and every time I was close to a comeback it still wasn’t right.
"I would train for a few weeks and it would go again. I saw a couple of specialists and I was given a programme for the close season. It’s really strong now. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in it now. The physios have been really good to me.
"I had a strict programme to follow through the summer and did a lot with the fitness coach. I’m in better shape and overall fitter than I’ve ever been before.
"I spent a lot of time in the gym, more working on my legs than my upper body, and that should mean I don’t pick up these niggles and stay fit.”