Blues manager Mick McCarthy says young defender Chris Smith, who signed a new contract earlier in the week, “could be a first-teamer in the making” for the Blues.
Former Kesgrave High School pupil Smith, 20, put pen to paper on a new deal which runs to the summer of 2019 with the club having an option for a further year.
"What I like about him is that he’s gone out on loan to Chelmsford and really stood out,” McCarthy said. "For them he’s played well but when he’s come back and trained with us he looks like a bloke now.
"He came back far more assured, far more confident, he looked like a man training, he looked like one of the first-team players, just his size, the physical specimen of him.
"Whether he’s for the first team next year, I think he’ll continue to get better, he’s a centre-back, so you always continue to improve.
"I think that’s what will happen and hopefully next year for him, for his development he can get out and play in the league somewhere, League Two or League One, just make that step up. I think he could be a first-teamer in the making for Ipswich.”