The current campaign ends tomorrow but Town midfielder Ryan Stevenson is already fired up by the challenge of establishing himself at Portman Road next season.

Stevenson’s three months at the club has been little more than a settling-in period, with only two of his 10 appearances to date being starts, and he has yet to complete an entire 90 minutes.

But the ex-Hearts star is determined he will make an impact next season after completing his £50,000 move in January following a period of self-imposed exile triggered by the Edinburgh club’s failure to pay their wages on time for the majority of his two-year stay there.

Stevenson, 27, said: “The good thing about coming down in January is that I got to know all the boys and got settled in the area.

“If it had been pre-season I’d have been doing all that as well. Pre-season is obviously a big thing and I can imagine it will be a hard two months for us. I’ve had my wife and son down and they will come back with me in July then I’ll be ready to hit the ground running.

“With pre-season everyone goes away on holiday and when they return it’s a level playing field. I’ve spoken to the manager about this and that’s what we are looking towards.

“I love it here. The rest of the lads have been brilliant. I’ve said that from day one because they have made me feel really welcome. It’s a good bunch of lads here and we’ve got a good squad.

“I’m excited by next season because we’ve shown in the last 18 games that it is possible for us to go on a run, beating the teams at the top of the league.

“If the manager adds a couple to the squad it is only going to help us and hopefully we can take the confidence that comes from the run we have been on since January into the new season. If we can make a good start you never know where we might end up.”

Stevenson, like all members of Paul Jewell’s squad, will be given a fitness routine to follow during the weeks prior to his return for pre-season training.

He added: “Training on my own is nothing new to me. My home is in Troon, on the Ayrshire coast, so I’ll mix up my training with runs along the beach — I’ve done that plenty of times — and sessions in the gym.

“I’m more eager to get started this year than I have been for some time and I’m 100 per cent certain to give it everything I’ve got to make sure I do well for the manager and this club, helping Ipswich to get back to where they want to be.”

Photo: Action Images

Photo: Action Images

irishtim added 14:31 - Apr 27 Fire in the belly & hunger the type we need.
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Garv added 14:43 - Apr 27 Recieved some silly criticism recently but I think he will have a part to play. Don't think Jewell see's him as a part of a central midfield pair whatsoever as he's only really been used as a striker so far, or in the Martin role where to be fair he's looked quite promising to be fair. Particularly against Leicester he linked up well with Scotland and Carson first. half. Seems to have a bit of bite about him which is good to see.

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ScottITFC14 added 15:16 - Apr 27 Captain material.
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buryblue77 added 16:14 - Apr 27 Scott, to be fair I don't think we should give him the burden of captaincy but he has looked quite good at times so far. Remember he's 27 and played in Scotland, where the level is lower than Championship standard apart from maybe the big two, so to expect (like some) him to come in and take the place by storm straight away is a bit unrealsitic. Look at Drury, he looked like he was one of those players who wasn't going to make it at this level, then came good and to be fair I think maybe Stevenson has made a better start than Drury did and for that reason I think he has a big part to play next season.

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Tractorog added 16:45 - Apr 27 @buryblue77 I'm not sure there are still a big two in Scotland? Unless you mean a big steaming pile of number twos on the balance sheet of Glasgow Rangers?
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buryblue77 added 16:53 - Apr 27 Tractorog fair enough, take Rangers out of the equation maybe I should have said the bid one, or even big half?
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bluebud added 16:56 - Apr 27 @tractorog ...weird post considering when Ryan played in Scotland there were a big two...Scottish football may be full of peasants, you though are a pedant.
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parkinshair added 16:59 - Apr 27 Stevenson has a great attitude. He wants to play for Ipswich. Lot of respect for the guy.
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Mark added 17:06 - Apr 27 Stevenson has looked poor when I have seen him play, but he seems to have a good attitude so let's hope he comes back better prepared after a full pre-season.
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Garv added 17:47 - Apr 27 He's looked poor when upfront, like at Watford for instance, though he was partnering a rubbish Chopra at the time and we were chasing the game. Give him a role where he has space like we do Martin and I think we'll get the best of him.
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fourth added 17:53 - Apr 27 Good Will they give Hyam a bit of space to say something?
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SouperJim added 19:01 - Apr 27 The time to judge Steveo will come once he has had a proper preseason behind him. I like his attitude though and he seems very keen to get his career back on track with us, could turn out to be a very good bit of business by Jewell.
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jas0999 added 19:27 - Apr 27 Haven't really seen enough of him to judge. But with many of PJ's own signings leaving, plus Leadbitter and others, we have a really poor squad. Stevenson will I think have a massive role to play next season - unless we bring in 8 or 9 players this Summer.
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buryblue77 added 19:44 - Apr 27 jas, 8 or 9 players? That brings us back to a similar situation we found ourselves in at the start of this season, too many players all at once. Now we need 2 X Keepers (1 Min) 1 X RB (not essential given the other areas we need strengthening) 2 X CB 1 X CM (poss 2) 1 X LM 1X CF (poss 2)
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bluearmy4life added 19:46 - Apr 27 Great attitude Ryan.
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Karlosfandangal added 20:32 - Apr 27 Replacement for Leadbitter
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ITFCforlife added 12:01 - Apr 29 I think next season he will be much better than Leadbitter ever was. He wants to play for Ipswich unlike Leadbitter and RS clearly has talent and may even score a few next year. Im glad we won't have Leadbitter next year and I hope we get rid of other players who dont want to play here
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