Loanee Dominic Iorfa believes recent criticism from some Town supporters is an occupational hazard to be overcome.
"It doesn’t really bother me,” said 22-year-old Iorfa, who is on a season-long loan from Wolves. "That’s what fans are like. When you are doing well they are loving it and they’re crazy but when things aren’t going so well it’s different. That’s just how it is and as a professional footballer you’ve just got to deal with it.
"I don’t really pay too much attention to it but at times it has seemed a bit harsh. However, they’re entitled to their opinions and all I can do is to carry on doing my best for the team.”
With parent club Wolves runaway leaders of the Championship and looking set for promotion to the Premier League, Iorfa is facing an uncertain future and admitted: "It will be hard to get into the Wolves team. They are 10 points clear at the top and look like they are going to go up. But I’m optimistic and we’ll just have to wait and see.
"If the option came up to stay at Ipswich permanently I’d be interested. I’m enjoying my football and I like it here. I get along with the staff and the other players.
"Mick McCarthy has done a lot for me — first and foremost, he’s given me game time and after the second half of last season that’s what I wanted more than anything.
"I’ve played a lot of games and he has improved me as well. Tactically, I’m better and while I admit I still have work to do I think my game has improved and that’s down to him as well.
"There’s been some contact from Wolves, checking how things are going, that I’m healthy and whether I’ve had any injuries, things like that.
"They’re just making sure I’m okay generally. At the moment I’m still contracted to Wolves so I’ve still got an eye on them.
"I don’t really know what is going to happen but until they say ‘We don’t want you’ I’ll still have hopes of staying there and playing for them.
"I have another year on my contract after the end of this season and in the summer I will sit down with them and see what happens.
"At the moment I’m focused here and hoping for a play-off push, which is all I can do.
"Wolves are having a great season and from what I’ve seen of them they should be going on to get promoted. I just wish them well.”
Iorfa is set to make a third successive appearance at right-back on Saturday at Bolton as Jordan Spence, red-carded at Fulham, completes a three-game ban but he will have to sit out the visit of parent club Wolves’ visit to Portman Road seven days later.
"Tell me about it,” he smiled. "Hopefully I can have a good performance this weekend and give the manager something to think about. I’d like to be in his plans and come straight back in after Wolves but we’ll see.
"I’ve no idea if I have a future there but if they do get promoted I can see them spending more money again. All I can do is perform as well as possible during my loan at Ipswich and hope to be in their plans going forward. We’ll see what happens at the end of the season.”
Iorfa repeated his desire to feature more often at the heart of defence, adding: "That’s where I want to be playing, centre-half, but at the moment the manager wants me to do a job at right-back and obviously I’m happy to play there and do a job for the team.
"Ideally I want to start playing at centre-half but at the moment it’s all about doing a job for the team.
"At the moment the manager clearly prefers me at right-back but if he ever feels that he wants me to do a job at centre-back — he played me there against QPR and Bolton earlier in the season — I’d be happy.
"If I’m playing with someone a bit more defensive I have more attacking responsibility but if I’m playing with, say, David McGoldrick I know he’s very creative and all I’ve got to do is just defend.
"Grant Ward might come inside because he can play in central midfield as well. He might look to get the ball deeper then I know that I’ve got to be on my bike and overlap him.
"As a team we have conceded too many goals this season. A clean sheet was important against Leeds last week and is something to build on. At the start of the season we were outscoring teams but you can’t expect to do that every week. Clean sheets always give you a chance of getting something.
"I’d like to get among the goals a bit more. I’ve scored one and I’ve had opportunities where I feel like I could have scored more. It’s something I am definitely trying to add to my game.”
Meanwhile, although he has played at U18, U20 and U21 levels for England, the Southend-born defender could still opt to follow father — also Dominic — and represent Nigeria as a senior international, as some reports in Africa have hinted.
Iorfa said: "It’s all speculation really. I haven’t had any contact with them, nothing at all. My dad played for them and it’s something I thought about when I was playing for the (England) U21s. We had the Euros in the summer so it was something that we spoke about.
"Going into the Euros was a good opportunity and I was waiting to see what happened after that, but this season there has been no real contact so it’s all just speculation.”