Luke Chambers, one of several Town players whose contracts are set to expire next summer, has confirmed his intention to continue as a player even if he is not offered a new deal to extend his stay at Portman Road.

Chambers, who is approaching the ninth anniversary of his move to Ipswich, has clocked up more than 750 career appearances and has now set himself a target of reaching 800, which will be beyond him during the remainder of the current campaign.

The club captain said: “Hopefully, there will be plenty more to come. I feel fit and I still feel I’m adding value to the team. It has been a disappointing few years, of course, but that will never stop us trying to bring the club back to where we need to be.

“That will be my aim for as long as I am wanted here or, if it’s not going to be here come the end of the season, I will still be looking to continue playing.”

Chambers is clearly taking nothing for granted and added: “There are no thoughts in my mind at the moment about a new contract. We need to be winning football matches now and if we don’t, and we don’t get to where we need to be, there will be questions asked of every single person and what the situation is going to be moving forward. I’m not naïve enough to think that if we don’t achieve success things won’t change.”

At a time when Town are robbed of the services of so many key players through injury, Chambers has only missed a few for the same reason despite being one of the most senior men. If he has missed games it has usually been through suspension or being rested, rather than injury.

Asked why his record was so good in that department, Chambers said: “Luck, genes, I don’t know. Who really knows? I have learned how to look after myself and how to look after my body but that’s me — one size doesn’t fit all.

“You have to find a way that allows you to be available when the games come round. I don’t know what that is because I’m not a sports scientist, coach or trainer.

“You are probably asking the wrong guy. We’ve had a lot of injuries at the club that are unavoidable and they are just part and parcel of football.”

The continued absence of senior players has opened the first-team door to several young players, several of whom probably felt they would have to wait a lot longer for their big chance, and Chambers has enjoyed seeing them mature and gain confidence over the past few months.

He added: “We’ve always been a good group, with the right mentality, when it comes to accepting new players into the squad. We have welcomed them, helped them to settle and we want them to be comfortable.

“I don’t mean comfortable, as in taking their foot off the gas, but being able to come into the group and being able to perform straight away.

“If we were flying and winning week in, week out, and you were just dropping one or two young lads in, it would be a lot easier for them to flourish. But as things stand they are having to learn on the job, as it were, and that means learning from their mistakes very quickly.

“All credit to the boys because they have the right mentality. They want to learn, they want to work hard and if they continue along those lines they will go far.

“I don’t want to name anyone individually because I think everyone who has been given an opportunity has grasped it and will continue to be in and around the first team set-up. Hopefully, that will continue for a long time.”

Chambers also had praise for central defenders Luke Woolfenden and on-loan Mark McGuinness, who are only 21 and 19 respectively, continuing: “Look at Mark the other night with flashes of Beckenbauer or Maldini when he came forward.

“He’s very mature for his age — it must be all the media training he’s had down at Arsenal. Woolfy has been around for a couple of years now and he’s more laid back than a sun bed.

“They are playing well and they are learning but there’s still more that we can all do as a back four.

“On Tuesday night in the win over Burton we defended a lot better and as a unit we defended a lot better. When you see goals going in you automatically look at the back four but as a team we all take responsibility.

“Tuesday’s performance spoke volumes because we managed to be a lot more dynamic and a bit more aggressive in the way we started the game.

“We put them under a lot of pressure early on and that’s something we have been trying to do after we didn’t manage it in other games. The boys deserve for learning on the job — and quickly.

“We’ve looked at things and noticed we were conceding a few goals from throw-ins. We said ‘This can’t happen again’ and we’re always trying to learn.

“We have a lot of young players in the team — I think we had as many as six at one point who only had about 10 appearances between them — and while that’s a positive for the club it means they have to learn pretty quickly.

“It’s great to see young players we are trying to develop gaining first-team experience. We have to look after them though.

“It’s always difficult in the world we live in with so much social media activity going on. Even if you don’t look for it there’s a good chance it will pop up on your phone or whenever, so that’s a situation they could do without.

“But, on the other hand, they have grown up in a time when it’s the norm so they can probably take the rough with the smooth.”

Chambers was also full of praise for both the club and midfielder Andre Dozzell after the recent news that they had agreed a new contract to replace the one that was due to expire in the summer.

He said: “Andre is a big asset to the club and he’s done well this season. There are still things he needs to work on and he knows that but his range of passing is second to none.

“We need to get him higher up the pitch so that he can affect games for us. We feel we need to force the issue a bit more in games.”

The Town players will not be having a Christmas party this year, Chambers revealed, because of the pandemic and the need to observe social distancing rules. He explained: “We don’t have anything planned because we’re just trying to stay fit and healthy while also looking to follow the correct protocol that the club have put in place.

“We’ve managed to navigate our way through without too many issues so we won’t be going out of our way to put anyone at risk.

“With the amount of players we have available at the moment and so many injured, we have to play it by the book.”

When it was suggested that the players could wait until May and have a promotion party Chambers laughed: “That would be very nice, wouldn’t it?”

Photo: Matchday Images

DifferentGravy added 22:29 - Dec 18 Fans seem to hold a lot of stock in the fact that a player is a great bloke off the pitch and has been at the club a number of years. For me its what they actually do ON the pitch. It certainly helps if a player is injury free but team mates will have far more respect for a captain if he can talk the talk AND John the Wark Should absolutely be his final season
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Henz10 added 22:47 - Dec 18 In answer to your question Stiffy ( what a name :) Chambers - Release Skuse - Release Judge - Release Edwards - Offer a new and improved deal Bishop - Offer a new and improved deal Jackson - Offer a new deal Ward - Release Nsiala - One Year Deal Nydam - Release as he's too injury prone Sears - Release Huws - Release as he's too injury prone Donacien - One Year Deal Wilson - Release Drinan - One Year Deal Wright - Release

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KiwiBlue2 added 00:07 - Dec 19 I would do the following: Chambers - 1 yr extension as squad member while he gets his coaching badges underway. Could stay as club captain but not 1st team captain. Transition time if he wants to stay. Skuse - Release. Plenty of options now for holding midfield (Downes, McGavin, Nydam?) Judge - One year extension with an option for a further year. Has potential if played in the middle behind the strikers and useful squad member Edwards - Offer 2 years with 1 year further option Bishop - Offer another contract with some provision relating to number of games played. Probably 2 years plus 1 year option. Jackson - Offer 2 years plus 1 year option Ward - Offer 1 year contract with a further 1 year option Nsiala - Release Nydam - Offer another contract for 1 year with 1 year option. Sears - Release Huws - 1 yr contract with a 1 year extension option. When fully fit competitive C/ship player. Possibly have a 'games played' provision. Donacien - Release Wilson - Offer another contract, useful back up. Bring in new proven/quality cb to replace McGuiness Drinan - Offer 2 years with further option of 1 year. Good potential Wright - Offer another contract

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eddiespearitt03 added 03:47 - Dec 19 Nice fella or not. Time is up for Mr Chambers. . Far too much poor marking and defensive mistakes. He should be gracefully released alongside Skuse, Judge and Sears so this club can finally start to move forward into the next phase of building a squad ready for the Championship. That is what Evans should be looking at to do and is long over due. Building a tougher squad and a fighting unit with improvement in every position.

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Dolphinblue added 10:22 - Dec 19 Brilliant Captain.....please stay Chambo you have so much more left to offer....potential manager of the club...true Blue.
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heathen66 added 12:33 - Dec 19 Unfortunately has been on the decline since McCarthy persisted with him (and ruined him) at RB. Now is a liability in the 3rd tier of English football, so if we are looking upwards in any capacity then it should be a definite no as far as a contract extension is concerned. We need to start looking longer term. KVY will be 1st choice RB without doubt, we just need cover for him...just not one of the higher paid senior pros !!!

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Juggsy added 12:39 - Dec 19 For those calling for him to be manager, he's hardly going to have learnt anything special from the previous few is he? As a leader we've been lead steadily downhill so I'd prefer he goes and cuts his managerial teeth elsewhere personally.
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oldelsworthyfan added 09:05 - Dec 20 Chambers is a thoroughly decent man and does not deserve the slagging he often gets, He often makes costly mistakes which have led to goals for the opposition. I've sometimes wondered if playing in the back line was the right position for him. Would it be absolutely crazy to give him a few games up front? He knows where the goal is and is good in the opposition penalty area. Many of our team play out of position. Please don't plead for me to be sectioned!

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Texastom added 19:59 - Dec 22 Chambers needs to go and yes agree we need a clear out. Got to get rid the negativity and the bad atmosphere which lingers when you keep old guard. We need STRONG Leaders and people with vision.
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Texastom added 20:05 - Dec 22 Yes happy for Chambers to be an experimental sweeper but for the future no, not on the staff or coaching please. Not experienced enough, too soft, not a big enough character and not a Leader.
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