IF you find yourself sitting next to a well-dressed stranger at Portman Road tomorrow, will you find yourself wondering: “Is it Marcus Evans?”Sadly the answer will be no.

IF you find yourself sitting next to a well-dressed stranger at Portman Road tomorrow, will you find yourself wondering: “Is it him?”

Sadly the answer will be no. The Evening Star understands Marcus Evans will be unable to go to the first home match since his £44 million takeover of the club was announced last week.

So he won't be in Town to hear an expected 20,000 Ipswich fans give a rousing rendition of: “There's only one Marcus Evans.”

Fans who travelled to the derby match in Norwich last week welcomed Mr Evans arrival on the scene - and the fact that he wanted to invest in the club while retaining the current board and management team.

But he will not be rushing to see the fruits of his investment in the immediate future.

A spokesman for the multi-millionaire businessman, who made his wealth in the corporate hospitality and training business, said he would never be able to comment on whether Mr Evans would be attending a match.

However it is believed he is currently out of the country on business.

Mr Evans guards his privacy tightly and no photograph of him has ever been published - a situation he is keen to continue to enable his young family to live a normal life.

His keen desire for privacy has encouraged some fans to have “I'm Marcus Evans” t-shirts printed.

It's a pretty safe bet that even if he does buy one, Mr Evans won't be wearing it when he does attend a match at Portman Road.