Blues top scorer Tom Lawrence praised Town's "great" fans for the standing ovation they gave him as he left the field during the second half of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, his last appearance for the Blues at Portman Road. The 23-year-old Wales international, who has spent the season on loan from Leicester, was replaced in the 64th minute having suffered an ankle injury.
"It was a very nice touch from the fans. They have been great,” 11-goal Lawrence said. "I wouldn’t say I was getting emotional because my ankle was too sore for that.”
Town boss Mick McCarthy has repeatedly dismissed the chances of the Blues re-signing the former Manchester United trainee next season, believing Lawrence will be playing in the Premier League.
"It’s tough one, because I don’t know what my future holds and I have a lot to think about over the summer,” Lawrence admitted.
"There is a possibility of many things. I have a lot of discussions to be had and I have to be patient.
"I’m a much better player than I was a year ago. This has been a good season for me.
"Having a full season and not a few months here and there has made a big difference.”
Lawrence, who finished second behind Bartosz Bialkowski in this season’s Player of the Year voting, has scored some memorable goals during his spell with the Blues but feels the strike at QPR at the start of January was the best.
Reflecting on the wider situation at Town, with a section of fans again calling on manager McCarthy to move on during Saturday’s match, Lawrence added: "This is a good group of lads and a manager and assistant manager working really hard.
"The fans need to look at what the manager has done since he came in the door. It was not nice to hear but they are disgruntled because it has not been a good season.
"They need to keep the faith. It showed against Newcastle that when the fans are behind the team they play better.
"It went wrong [on Saturday] because Sheffield Wednesday had something to play for and we didn’t. They are a good team so we shouldn’t take anything away from them.”
Saturday’s result confirmed Wednesday’s place in the top six and goalscorer Kieran Lee says the Owls squad is in good spirits having won six matches on the trot.
"Confidence is high going into the play-offs and it is a massive thing to have the momentum,” he said. "We need to keep that going now and go one better than we did last year.”
Regarding his goal, his third at Portman Road for the Owls in four seasons, the 28-year-old added: "I’m so happy to have scored after being out so long. A lot of my goals seem to come like that when I make that late, darting run into he area.
"Obviously it was a great pull back from Dan [Pudil] and I was able to turn it in.
"I don’t know what it is about Portman Road, it is just one of those grounds where I seem to score. I did think about it before the game and wondered if I could get another here.”