Emyr Huws admits he has had talks with Town boss Paul Lambert about playing more regularly but accepts that the onus is on him to force his way into the side by virtue of his performances.
The next five days, which see the Blues take on promotion rivals Hull and Charlton at Portman Road, could present the one-time Manchester City youngster with an opportunity to push his first-team claims.
Huws arrived at Town on loan from Cardiff in January 2017, scoring three times in 13 Championship games and impressing sufficiently for then manager Mick McCarthy to want to make the move permanent.
Having signed a four-year deal in the summer of that year, his progress has been hampered by injury to the extent that he has since made only 39 further appearances, 12 of which have been from the bench, and has scored just once.
Huws said: "My contract is up this year and there have been no talks yet. I think I’m going to have to play a lot more big games and show what I’m about a bit more before that happens.
"I love the club and I would love to stay. Hopefully we can go on to have a successful season and then we can take it from there.
"I’m slightly disappointed that I haven’t played more often, especially as we’ve had do many injuries within the squad, and I’ve spoken to the manager about it.
"But it’s part of football and you can’t always have your own way. You just have to keep your head down and keep working.
"The manager listens and understands but at the end of the day there’s competition for places and it’s up to players to do well enough to not only force their way into the side but to then stay there.”
Asked if it made it more frustrating because he is now fully fit after a lengthy absence through injury, he replied: "No, I don’t think that has played a part in it. I’ve parked everything that happened in the past and this season is this season, and I’m just dealing with it week by week.
"I’m just like the other players — we all want to play — so I’m looking forward to this week and getting some more minutes. Hopefully I can add something to the midfield in terms of affecting the games. I want to be scoring goals and providing assists, so that’s what I will be trying to do.”
Injured midfield pair Jon Nolan and Teddy Bishop, both forced off against Shrewsbury on Saturday, have scored nine goals between them this season and Huws, who missed the entire 2018/19 campaign, would like nothing more than to claim his first since finding the net against Gillingham in an EFL Trophy tie in October last year.
He added: "I’ll be looking to contribute as Jon and Teddy have, with goals. I’d like to think I can get goals if the right chances come along. I think the fact that we have been playing well and scoring goals will help me. I want to be more involved and chip in.”