Town have re-signed former midfielder Darren Ambrose on a short-term deal until January. The 30-year-old had been training with the Blues in recent weeks and has twice featured for the U21s.

Ambrose, who will wear the number 29 shirt, joins John Wark, Tommy Miller, Richard Wright and Daryl Murphy as one of a select few players to have had three or more spells with the Blues.

Having come through the Town academy, he made his senior debut at Arsenal close to the end of the Blues' 2001/02 Premier League campaign.

After establishing himself in the Town side after relegation, he was sold less than a year later to Newcastle for £1 million as the club sought to raise cash having gone into administration. He had made only 25 starts and 12 sub appearances, scoring 11 goals.

Ambrose subsequently moved to Charlton before rejoining the Blues for two months on loan during the 2008/09 season but failed to win a permanent deal having made a further six starts and three sub appearances without adding to his Town goals.

A spell with Crystal Palace followed before he joined Birmingham in July 2012.

The Harlow-born player was released by the Midlanders at the end of last season following a loan spell with Greek side Apollon Smyrni.

Ambrose, who moved back to West Suffolk earlier in the summer, played for Colchester against the Blues in pre-season before joining up with the Town squad to train three weeks ago.

Meanwhile, ex-West Ham man Jack Collison has been spotted back with the Blues squad. Like Ambrose the 25-year-old has been training at Playford Road in recent weeks.

Elsewhere, Crystal Palace have reiterated that they have received no loan offers for ex-Blues loanee Jonny Williams, despite a number of Championship clubs - including Town - having registered their interest.

Photo: ITFC

Photo: Action Images

ArnieM added 14:04 - Sep 11 If he can play a forward, defence splitting pass he'll be a massive improvement/addition to our midfield. COYBs
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Alxn629 added 14:06 - Sep 11 Welcome home Darren :-)
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PJH added 14:09 - Sep 11 This cannot be a bad thing, especially if he approaches his form of earlier years. The club had no option other than accepting the £1m from Newcastle as they were desperate for cash at the time and there were no other offers in the pipeline.He was obviously sold for a lot less than he was worth as both ITFC and Newcastle were aware. Welcome back Darren.
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BlueandTruesince82 added 14:31 - Sep 11 When Ambrose came on loan (Magilton I think was in chage) it was insinuated that he hadnt done enough and was not the caliber of player we were looking for. He then went to palce and had a couple of storming seasons with them Yes he has been injured recently and not played as much as he would like but he is only 30, he could have 10 more years. When he left for Newcastle we all thought he would play for England, he was great at charlton, great at palace and great in his first stint here. I bet hes on cheap wages and its only til Jan initially so what have we lost? I bet when he signed for palace their fans sat around saying "well Ipswich didnt want him back and he couldnt get a contract there".... Good player and more common sense than your average footballer. Maybe its a masterstoke, maybe not but I for one welcome Ambrose with open arms. If only big Jim had signed him maybe we would have nabbed that 6th place after all!

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Surco72 added 14:45 - Sep 11 I for one am happy about this signing , has vision , a shot and scores goals . A short term deal is good for all parties to see if it works out , if he gets near to the form he showed at Palace we will be laughing and surely must offer more than the likes of Tabb and Skuse ? Well done MM good option
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rickw added 14:46 - Sep 11 Can't see Mick starting him as a winger, only perhaps as an impact sub or starting off a lone striker in the role Johnny Williams did end of last season, but either way he gives us something different to what we've already got
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Fat_Boy_Tim added 14:56 - Sep 11 Can we stop complaining about Ambrose's age, Jim Magilton was 30 when he arrived at PR. Nuff said.
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Michael11 added 15:06 - Sep 11 Am I the only one who's completely underwhelmed by this signing? Been past his prime for a long time now. Does anyone really think he'd improve our side more than Taylor or Wordsworth would? I certainly don't.
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MedwayTractor added 15:40 - Sep 11 Best news for ages. I said weeks ago that we should take him back when I found out Brum had released him. Look at his record before he went to NU - 11 goals in 37 aoppearances (incl subs). Worth every penny of his wages to see if he can score like that again, after all, the total scored by every midfield player in 49 league & cup games last season adds up to just 12!

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blues1 added 17:21 - Sep 11 incredible.there are people on here criticising that weve signed some1 who other teams have decided not to? yet if we turn down someone who subsequently signs for some1 else, those same people will be on here slating the fact we didn't sign them. really is no pleasing some people. as for ambrose. personally I don't know whether it a good decision or not but im not gonna knock it. if he performs well then great. I would have said collision the better option before, but having watched the u21 match v sheff weds, ambrose was much the better of the 2 in that game. mr Roberts. if youre giving up on itfc, hope u do and go be a glory hunter. supporting a team is about backing them in both good and bad times. and like so many on here you seem to be another who doesn't get the point that the cresswell money so far received has mostly been spent(wages,agents fees, signing on fees) for the 5 players weve now signed since cresswells departure and the rest is being earmarked for bringing in a couple of loans.

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runningout added 18:27 - Sep 11 oh dear
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blueboy1981 added 19:00 - Sep 11 blues1 ........ cannot say I disagree with ALL your post/s - but do please remove those 'blue tints' occasionally. And better still - have some respect for people with a different view to yourself, who may expect more than you for their money, and commitment to the Club. Some of the people you malign, are NOT school kids, but people who have followed / supported this Club for many,many years and deserve a voice in so doing, and having done so.

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muccletonjoe added 19:06 - Sep 11 he was certainly a great prospect first time he was here, maybe mick can get something out of him now. one of those wait and see ones.
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purplealien added 19:25 - Sep 11 This seems pretty low risk. He's on a short term deal, and it isn't as if MM hasn't had the opportunity to see him in action with the squad. I'm pleased to see him back.
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thebeat added 20:31 - Sep 11 I still dont get these fans who keep saying the Cresswell money was spent on new players wages. What about all the players that left in the summer? The money we were spending on their wages are now being used on the incoming players wages. So the only money from the Cresswell deal that will have been spent would have been signing on fees, judging by the standard of players we brought in id say no more than 150k would have been needed so technically most of the Cresswell money should be available. I always liked Ambrose but make no mistake hes the cheap option in Mick and Marcus quest to get promoted on the cheap

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jas0999 added 20:44 - Sep 11 Thebeat - completely agree. Have said for a while that we had more players last season without the Cresswell money. The players we signed are unlikely to have been on higher wages, considerably less in most cases. If the Cresswell money was spent on these new players, then we have the wages still to spend on those departing! There are a lot of those!
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Warkys_Tash added 21:14 - Sep 11 He scored a few and was one of Palace's best players two seasons ago. We could do with his creativity and goal scoring ability. Last time he came back he was a bit off form but 6 appearances wasn't enough, as he then proved at Palace he still had it. Let's hope he comes here and his 3rd spell is as successful as Walkys was. Welcome back, Darren. Can you tap up your old mate Benty too?!

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AinsleyBlue added 21:29 - Sep 11 Both delighted and well chuffed about this, warranted a mighty 'gertcha! when I read this earlier on. C'mon Mick, Tommy Miller's still's playing...
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budgieplucker added 22:50 - Sep 11 A talented intelligent footballer with the right character, excellent work ethic and an attachment to the club. He can play in the centre or wide and has a good creative spark with a goal in his locker, so add versatility to his CV. OK Wordsworth and Taylor both had talent but not the same all round ability of Darren. Even if he doesn't hold down a first team place he will be an excellent role model for the likes of young Teddy Bishop and as MM has already said he improves the quality of the training e.g. an example of making space and having vision. I can see him playing in a diamond formation with Bru &/or Bishop. We have released two players on-loan (AW & PT) - Darren gives the option of covering both of these - so one would imagine this is self funding. A shrewd signing but really a no brainer as well

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