Gills midfielder Stuart O’Keefe says it will mean a lot to captain his side at Portman Road tomorrow, the Suffolk-born 30-year-old having started his career in the Town academy.
O’Keefe, who is from Gislingham and attended Hartismere School in Eye, was handed the armband by new manager Neil Harris following the deadline-day departure of previous skipper Kyle Dempsey to Bolton Wanderers.
Having joined Town at the age of nine in 2001, O’Keefe played alongside the likes of Jordan Rhodes and Ed Upson at Playford Road but wasn’t offered a scholarship at 16.
A spell with Southend’s youth set-up followed before stints with Crystal Palace, Blackpool (loan), Cardiff, MK Dons (loan), Portsmouth (loan) and Plymouth (loan) before he joined the North Kent club in 2019.
"It means a lot to me, it’s a bit more responsibility and I enjoy the role of helping people as much as I can. It is a privilege to lead the team whenever I am asked to,” O’Keefe told Kent Online.
"To lead a side out at Portman Road would be excellent, it would be amazing if I get to do that.”
He added: "It’s a club close to my heart, where my football started and my family still live that way.
"Ipswich is always a game with a little bit of an edge for personal reasons and I always look forward to going back to Portman Road. It is a nice stadium, a big crowd, a great place to play your football.
"It wasn't long ago that we got well beaten by them [4-0 at the Priestfield Stadium last month]. It wasn't a good day, we owe it to ourselves and the fans to go there and put in a proper shift and performance and give ourselves and the fans something to be proud about and something positive, to put it right after that last game against them.
"It is a positive challenge, a big stadium, a big crowd, a team with a big budget who will be expected to get out of the league sooner rather than later, it is massive challenge but we are looking forward to it.”