Town manager Paul Jewell says more youngsters could join Josh Carson and Connor Wickham in the first team before the end of the season. The Blues boss says there are one or two others pushing for a place behind the teenage duo.

Jewell said: “Ipswich have always had a reputation for producing good players. We’ve got a great training facility at Ipswich and a great academy.

“With Josh, it’s always nice when young players come through. I was speaking to [Swansea manager] Brendan Rodgers in the hotel on Friday night and he was telling me that he had Connor at Reading when he was a 12-year-old.

“It’s always nice for the supporters to see youngsters coming in. We’ve got one or two others underneath them who I think are going to be decent players as well, but it’s difficult to put too much pressure on them too soon with the press. But at the moment Connor and Josh are doing very, very well.”

Luke Hyam, Tom Eastman, Troy Brown and Conor Hourihane are yet to feature in a senior game since the change of management in January, while Shane O’Connor was briefly a sub at Arsenal.

Striker Ronan Murray could potentially be recalled from his loan at Torquay if required, although Jewell says he has no immediate plans to do so, while the likes of striker Caolan Lavery and central defender Josh Meekings are set to progress from the academy into the professional ranks this summer.

Having said that he might give a couple of youngsters an opportunity, the Blues boss doesn’t want those currently in the side slacking in the final weeks of the season: “I might give people a chance but I want the people who are playing at the moment not to want a rest.”

Jewell says Wickham is handling all the speculation regarding his future well given his youth: “He’s a young kid who’s 18 this week and an awful lot’s been spoken about him and he deals with it very, very well.

“He scored a decent goal at Burnley. He never stops running and he’s going to be a top and player and hopefully he can score a few more goals for us.”

Wickham himself says he’s focusing on getting Town promoted next season: “The gaffer told me his plans when he first came in.

“I’ve spoken to him one-on-one several times and I’ve been happy with the ideas he has had in his mind. I signed a contract after that and I want to get Ipswich in the Premier League, which is what we all want to do.”

The England U21 international frontman is also keen for skipper David Norris, who scored Town’s other goal at Burnley on Saturday, to remain at Portman Road: “Chuck’s scored several goals this season and it’s no wonder that other clubs are interested in him. I hope he can stay here and help us to push on for next season.”

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

Photo: Action Images

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