Jonas Knudsen has admitted the impending departure of Town boss Mick McCarthy could impact upon his own Portman Road future.

With McCarthy due to leave next month Knudsen will be heading into the final year of his contract, the club having already informed him of their decision to trigger the one-year option they held on his services. Beyond that the Danish defender’s future is uncertain.

Knudsen said: “I need to think about my situation a bit more. The gaffer has been a big part of my career in England and I told him that before.

“I said I wanted to know what he was going to do and while it’s not just about him, I have been very happy playing under him.

“You never know what is going to happen and who will be coming in as the new manager. Does he like you or does he not like you? That’s how it is in football.

“I have a year left here now and I will always do my best for this club, 100 per cent in training and of course in games.

“But I cannot deny that the manager leaving is having an effect on what I will do in the future.

“I am very happy here and I like living in the area and playing for Ipswich Town, which I think is a great club. My wife loves it here as well, which is also important to me.

“I am definitely here for another year and then we’ll see. I haven’t heard anything from anybody at the club so I can’t say anything about signing a new contract. That’s how it is. All I can do is wait and see whether the new manager wants me or not.

“I have ambition to achieve more and I believe I can do it. I want to play in the Premier League and so should every player.

“I am 25 and I have played here for three seasons. I want a chance to play at the top level and I would love to go to the Premier League with Ipswich — that would be absolutely brilliant — but I also have to be realistic sometimes.

“Maybe I will always stay in the Championship but I believe you always have to set the bar high. If the new manager comes in and decides he wants to keep me, and the owner wants to offer me a new deal, I would be ready to talk about it. If I can see that Ipswich are going to go for it, the Premier League, it would suit me nicely.”

Knudsen echoed the views of other Town players when he stated: “I was very disappointed to hear the news that the gaffer was moving on. He has been absolutely brilliant for me, bringing me to England, and I have played 118 games under him. I am so grateful to both him and TC [Terry Connor] for what they have done for me.

“I have learned so much from them and if I have made a success of coming to England, which some people haven’t done, they are due a lot of the credit.

“When I heard they were not going to be staying at the club I was so disappointed. They have done a lot for this club. Mick has built something and now he is leaving, but that’s how it is in football.

“Personally, I would want him to stay because he has done a fantastic job and I’m not just saying that because I am in the team and play every week.”

Knudsen and his team-mates were lifted by the positive vibes as a result of the Easter Monday display against a play-off chasing Millwall side not only unbeaten in their 13 previous league games but seeking a seventh successive away Football League win for the first time in their history.

He said: “It is disappointing that there haven’t been more occasions like that this season. It was such a great atmosphere, which the Millwall fans helped to create, and the Leeds fans did something similar earlier in the season.

“Our own supporters were in great voice as well and you saw how the players react when it is like that. It was perfect.

“As players we love playing to a crowd like that and it showed what a big part of football the fans can be. It is not enjoyable for the players when the fans are not creating the atmosphere, but when they do it like they did on Monday it is absolutely brilliant.

“I could tell people enjoyed it and while we obviously wanted to win it was a game that could have gone either way and a draw was probably fair.

“I know it is a two-way thing between the fans and the players, and we need to give them more of that in the last few games of the season.

“I don’t know for sure, but maybe it has something to do with us being in the middle of the table and being a little bit more free to play that way.

“But from my point of view, while I know it is great to watch games like that, we are professionals and we need to win games to get points on the board.

“I know we got one point the other day but that’s not how football can be all the time. It was great — I had family members over from Denmark and they thought it was fantastic but every game isn’t going to be like that.

“We still have six games to go before the end of the season and our aim must be to do as well as we can in each and every one of them.

“We will do it for the club and the supporters but also the manager because he has been so important in all the players’ careers.

“I think we have a very good squad here and that is down to the manager, as well as things like the team spirit.

“You saw it on Monday when we were 1-0 down and nobody knew what was going to happen in the second half.

“We talked about it in the dressing room and what we wanted to do, and I think we showed what we are made of when we went back out to the pitch.

“We didn’t go on to lose by more goals, we came out and put in a performance to fight back and make a real game of it. The gaffer was delighted and so were we that we were able to give him something back.”

Photo: TWTD

blueboy1981 added 18:57 - Apr 6 I'm all for team bonding Players / Managers - but we have had an unhealthy situation where we have had both covering each others backs, to the exclusion of 'some'. A totally different scenario to how it should be.
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Swn98 added 20:57 - Apr 6 Can't say i agree with your post Blueboy how can you/anyone say players have been covering each others backs to the exclusion of some.Thats only in your or other posters opinions. But hey in my new conciliatory phase of mind i don't want to fall out with you over a matter of opinion ie who should play in particular games and who shouldn't.
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