Christophe Berra is adamant he will celebrate if he scores against former club Wolves at Portman Road tonight, bucking the general trend among players not to do so when finding the net against former employers.

The former Molineux favourite, who took his Town tally for the season to four when he netted in last month’s 2-2 home draw with Blackburn, said: “I’m playing for Ipswich now, so why not?

“I had a great time at Wolves, winning the Championship and playing in the Premier League, but we were also relegated and to be honest it didn’t end on the best of notes.

"I got left out of the last 16 games and while I didn’t leave on bad terms it wasn’t great either.

“I got put to the side for those 16 games — I wasn’t in the squad and not even on the bench — and it was all a bit disappointing after what I had done during the four and a half years I was there.

“But that’s football and we move on. I came to Ipswich and Ipswich are now my team, and I will give 110 per cent every time.”

He added: “I can understand if players have been at teams for, say, 10 years but I was at Wolves for four and a half years. My first team was Hearts, I was there even longer and they are my hometown team, which maybe makes it a bit different.

“I had a great time at Wolves, they are a good club with good fans and I met a lot of good people there. But I’m playing for Ipswich and that’s all I care about really.”

Oddly enough, despite having scored nine goals in his 61 appearances since joining Town in the summer of 2013, he failed to find the net even once during 154 games for Wolves after Mick McCarthy signed him from Hearts for £2.5 million in February 2009.

Berra added: “I’m on four for the season so far and that works out as roughly one every three games. If I can keep that ratio up it will be great but I know they can dry up very easily.”

The club’s reigning Player of the Year’s role within the Town side has been tweaked this season as he is operating on the left, rather than the right, of the central defensive pairing and has been partnered to the right by both Tommy Smith and Luke Chambers.

He said: “Last season I played the whole time on the right side but the gaffer has changed it a little bit this season and it seems to be working. We’re all adaptable — Chambo can go to right-back if required — and the bottom line is that we just want to play and we always give 110 per cent when we’re out on the pitch.

“I’m naturally left-footed so it’s easier to open up and put balls into the channel, but I also enjoy it when I’m playing in the right-sided role. It probably improves my game when I’m there and makes me a better player.

“It really doesn’t matter who is playing alongside you. It’s just a case of getting on with it and making sure you do your job properly. Then it’s up to everyone else to do their individual jobs, first and foremost, and if we all do that we gel together as a team.

“But we’re also there to help out others and if somebody makes a mistake you are there to help them.”

Berra is not the only former Wolves player in line to face them this evening, with winger Stephen Hunt also fired up to face the club for whom he scored eight times in 66 games spread over three seasons prior to his release in 2013.

The Scot added: “Hunty is looking forward to the game. You know what he’s like, very enthusiastic and can’t sit still for a second, so he’ll be right up for it.

“But we’ve just got to treat it as another game at home that we want to win and take three points.

“It doesn’t matter who we are playing against — we don’t want to worry about them too much but just make sure we get our own ship in order and that we turn in a good performance.”

Photo: Action Images

KiwiTractor added 07:08 - Nov 4 Good on you Yogi, stick a couple in the net.
1

SouperJim added 09:44 - Nov 4 Too bloody right, far to much of this "don't celebrate against your old club" nonsense about. As Berra says, if you've were with them for 10+ years then maybe, but your first responsibility should be to your current club and fans. Pay them some respect by showing what it means to score for them.
1

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls