Town loanee Tom Lawrence may have been one of the Championship’s most influential players this season — but he still faces an uncertain future.
His 10 goals make him top goalscorer for Mick McCarthy’s men by some distance and the Town boss has admitted more than once that he will be unable to afford to make the Leicester loanee a permanent signing in the summer.
While at first club Manchester United the Welsh international had loan spells at Carlisle and Yeovil and since joining the Foxes on a four-year deal in 2014 he has played most of his football on loan at Blackburn, Cardiff and now Ipswich, only making one FA Cup start and three substitute appearances in the Premier League for his parent club.
Lawrence said: "I couldn’t really say where my future lies. I just have to wait and see what they [Leicester] have to say in the summer and go from there. I really don’t know what’s going to happen. I can’t predict my future so I’ll just have to wait and see.
"I haven’t heard from Leicester since I joined Ipswich in August last year. You’d have thought they would have contacted me but they haven’t so we’ll just have to see where that takes me.
"I don’t know if they have someone responsible for the players who are out on loan — I can’t really answer that one.
"I just get on with playing for Ipswich, who have made me feel very welcome. There’s no issue with them. I thought I could give something to Leicester this season but obviously they thought differently. If they want me to stay hopefully I will have something to offer next year.”
Lawrence was shocked to see Leicester sack manager Claudio Ranieri so soon after leading them to the Premier League crown, adding: "It was a bit of a strange one but football’s crazy these days and you never know what’s going to happen. It was very harsh, I thought, but that’s football.”
Asked if he had spoken to McCarthy about his future, Lawrence responded: "It’s not really something for the manager here. It’s up to the manager at Leicester to decide whether he wants me or not.
"I think it has gone well for me here and my goal tally is the highest it has ever been. I’m playing with a lot of confidence, same as at Blackburn, but that wasn’t the case when I was on loan at Cardiff. I’m enjoying it here and I’m having a great season.
"I didn’t get the opportunities I should have had under the manager at Cardiff. When I was at Blackburn I was playing good football but at Cardiff there were a lot of off-the-field club issues. I’d have liked a run of games but it didn’t happen.”
Playing regularly and the faith shown in him by McCarthy has boosted the player’s self-belief. He added: "It definitely helps when you are playing every game. I was welcomed by all the lads when I first arrived and that has also played a big part.
"They are a good group here and we should be higher up the league, which we are all hoping to do between now and the end of the season.
"I’ve not just improved as a player, I’ve also matured. It comes with the confidence. Back at Leicester I never knew if I was going to play but the gaffer here has shown confidence in me and hopefully that has shown in my performances.”
Lawrence has been partnering David McGoldrick up front in recent weeks and he said: "I think we work well together. You can see from a few of the goals how well we can combine with each other and hopefully that will continue. It would be good if we’re both among the goals.
"Ems [Emyr Huws] has chipped in with a couple of goals as well so that will help him massively. It’s good to have a few different goalscorers in the team. Me, Ems and Jonny Williams have known each other since our young days.
"It’s just a shame that Jonny has had a few injuries but hopefully we can see him back on the pitch soon. It’s obviously up to the gaffer whether it happens or not but it would be good if all three of us could play together for Ipswich. We would all like that.”