Town midfielder Andy Drury has joined League Two Crawley on a 93-day loan. The 27-year-old was Blues boss Paul Jewell’s first Town signing when he moved from Luton for £150,000 in January but is yet to win a regular place in the side.

Drury says he wants to play games, something which was unlikely at Portman Road: ''I was desperate to get some first team action and as that did not look as if it was going to happen at Ipswich Town in the short term, this is a great move for me.

''I just want to get my head down and work hard. There are a number of talented players here and when everyone is fit there will not be many better than us in League Two. I am looking forward to training today and doing well enough for the manager to think about me for [Saturday's home game against Bradford City]."

Red Devils boss Steve Evans added: "There is no secret that I am a big admirer of Andy Drury. We tried very hard back in January to sign him from Luton Town but it was not to be.

“He is a big strong lad with great ability and our supporters will take to him in a big way, he is a matchwinner and a great signing.

''I spoke to Andy at the start of the week and he showed a real desire to be with us. That was important to me as I only want players who want to work hard and contribute to what we are trying to achieve.”

Drury has made five starts and eight sub appearances for Town since his move from Kenilworth Road.

The deal includes a clause which could see the switch made permanent in the January transfer window.

Former Blues defender Tom Eastman joined Crawley on loan from Colchester earlier in the week.

Photo: Action Images

strikalite added 16:27 - Sep 15 It was a huge step up for him when he came here, unless you have something very special to offer you're never going to make it, if I heard every Luton fan totally singing his praises then maybe he'd have been worth a punt, but I just heard mixed opinions which leaves you in doubt..
0

zackgp added 16:43 - Sep 15 noooo i thought drury was a good buy and one of the few players to come out of games like 'that' home derby unscathed, i wondered if he could play in a 4-3-3 formation as a winger with JET
0

NW10_Tractor added 16:43 - Sep 15 Thats Rubbish! From what I saw of him he looked like a good footballer. Never really got a fair crack of the whip. Competing with the likes of Bullard and Leadbitter never gave him a chance.. Luton Fans would tell you that he is quite a player.
0

Garv added 17:20 - Sep 15 Jewell needs the balls to bring Bullard off when he is not having a good game, we don't want him thinking his place in the team is guaranteed every week. I've stolen this opinion from someone and he'll kill me for it but it has to be said. If it was me, if Bullard was to come off it would be Drury replacing him.
0

petermorris added 17:21 - Sep 15 sonian - the PJ golden days are already better than the embarrassment of RK - we're not in League 1 for starters and thank you PJ for that. I'm giving PJ a chance before I start worrying (unlike some idiots on here). Drury is a good lad and I wish him well — he's just not good enough.
0

JordyBeef added 17:30 - Sep 15 Never lived up to potential i'm afraid!
0

BlueBailey24 added 17:30 - Sep 15 think he has potential - seemed to change a couple of games after coming on hopefully the loan will do him good so he can come back and fight for his place. good luck!
0

TractorBeezer added 17:34 - Sep 15 Good luck Andy. You have the right attitude.
0

Dale added 17:36 - Sep 15 Should never have bught him in the first place.
0

Lightningboy added 18:12 - Sep 15 Was never convinced by this signing..big step up from the conference to the championship..mind you,probably couldn't have done any worse than Leadbitter.
0

Garv added 18:20 - Sep 15 Atleast he looks forward to create, the only thing Leadbitter creates is a sticky defensive situation by passing backwards, Peterborough prime example!
0

blueblood66 added 18:22 - Sep 15 I think he'll not be back, a lower league club will snap him up though, good luck Andy.
0

WoodfordTim added 18:55 - Sep 15 What a great pity. At the time, it was hailed as a shrewd bit of business by PJ in January, recruiting from the lower leagues. What went wrong? I thought he looked a good player with some real on-field presence. Big disappointment if he goes next January. Feel sorry for him.
0

Daleyitfc added 19:37 - Sep 15 He was previously known as Vemund Brekke Skard. One down, about twenty to go, to clear out the crap. And that's just the players!
0

Warkys_Tash added 19:37 - Sep 15 Always worked hard for the team but no disrespect he has absolutely no pace. Not quite going to cut it at this level I am afraid. As for all the critiscm Leadbitter is receiving at the moment. I agree he has been shocking so far this season & wasn't brilliant last. However, he looked Prem class when he was brought here & he will get back to that level. Class is permanent, Form is temporary. All of you haters, you have short memories!!

0

Warkys_Tash added 19:42 - Sep 15 And as for Eastman - don't get me started. He was lucky to get as far as he did - I have seen lots of better centre halfs not even make Pro. No pace, no finesse. Sorry!
0

marcus139 added 20:15 - Sep 15 Oh what short memories. As i remember, most were saying at time of signing go for it, type of player we needed to try, 150 k worth risk. And he was. He may still turn out good. But a regular run in a team with confidence, crawley, like lee martin last year at oldham, may return him a far better player for us. At worst, we will get his cost back. Honestly, i know football fans are fickle, but blimey!

0

marcus139 added 20:18 - Sep 15 Oh, and jas, as i remember it grant holt hadnt exactly made it at 27 before he signed for the unmentionables.
0

petermorris added 20:36 - Sep 15 Absolutely right marcus139 — Drury was worth 150k and as a squad player helped us to avoid the drop into oblivion... short memories and very fickle some of these so called fans….Pathetic. Oh, and Daleyitfc — you need to get out more.
0

Mark added 20:59 - Sep 15 So it turned out the step up to the Championship was too much for Drury. A shame, but at £150K and low wages it was worth a punt. Now we have had the chance to bring in some much better quality players Drury can't get a look in, so best of luck to him at Crawley. We should also remember that using only Drury (£150K) and Bullard (loan), Paul Jewell managed to take a relegation-destined team* up to 13th in the table, 20 points from relegation. * Remember this run before Jewell took over: Ipswich 0 Derby 2, Ipswich 1 Barnsley 3, Hull 1 Ipswich 0, Norwich 4 Ipswich 1, Ipswich 1 Swansea 3, Preston 1 Ipswich 0, Ipswich 3 Leicester 0, Coventry 1 Ipswich 1, Ipswich 0 Forest 1.

0

Lightningboy added 22:03 - Sep 15 Good stats there Mark. I seriously don't think we're going to improve on our consistency until we stick with an 11..the last 4/5 years have been very up & down-pretty much ever since Marcus came in and started letting Jim,then Keane & now PJ go bonkers with his cheque book. Surely there comes a point when you can have too many options & the manager doesn't know his own mind..think that's what's happened here for far too long now..we need 11 square pegs in 11 square holes PJ..we've had too much mediocrity brought in-far too many Alan Quinns,Tamas Priskins & Andy Drurys..i'd rather have a bit more quality & less (very average) quantity. Anyone know How many Players Burley used in his promotion season here?..seem to remember that was a pretty settled team.

0

choprawontcome added 22:43 - Sep 15 did i misread the top section of this post? what do we think of leadbitter maybe? Well im going to stand up for the lad,he was superb when he 1st came to us but like many a good player joins us then falters in time,you have to look at the management on this. Bring back GB,why the hell we never did when we had the chance I'll never know,we are a total mess,the youth team is void of talent and all we are doing is buying in has beens,sickens me tbh,we are still going backwards now we have a manager releasing his own signings,je help us.

0

jeffisbent added 02:50 - Sep 16 Had totally forgotten about him to be honest. But to be fair, he done alright when he came in last year. Good luck to him.
0

alexsmith111 added 05:06 - Sep 16 This is good as long as its short term to get him games
0

whippet added 06:29 - Sep 16 Think we can still get something out of Drury- even if its only as a utility player. He lacks pace in the championship. Seems to have skill, good passing etc but lack of pace makes life difficult. He should do well at League 2. Maybe PJ was thinking that we would be League 1 this season so bought him for this reason?
0

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls