Roy drops hint over new deal for keeper
IPSWICH Town manager Roy Keane has hinted that injured Richard Wright is to be offered a new contract when his current one expires in the summer.
Elvin King
IPSWICH Town manager Roy Keane has hinted that injured Richard Wright is to be offered a new contract when his current one expires in the summer.
The former England goalkeeper was dropped by the Blues manager after the 2-1 Championship defeat at Barnsley on October 3 having conceded 16 goals in the previous six matches.
The 32-year-old was left out in the cold until brought back at Cardiff City on November 29 where he lasted just 22 minutes before suffering serious knee ligament damage.
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Arran Lee-Barrett has come in and done well enough to have been offered - and signed - a contract until June 2011 while Irish keeper Brian Murphy is now putting pressure on the ex-Hartlepool man for a first-team place.
But Keane has not forgotten Ipswich-raised Wright, who was signed from West Ham in the summer of 2008 and was a regular in previous manager Jim Magilton's side last season.
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Wright is ahead of schedule having originally been ruled out for three or four months and he was in the Town party that travelled to London on Tuesday for the 2-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers.
He is now on track to return to action late this month or early next, and Keane said: “Good professionals get back earlier than the estimate.
“You learn a lot about a player when they are injured and Richard has proved himself to be a top professional.”
While Wright will relish Keane's comments and look to regain his first-team place before the end of the season, Town defender Tommy Smith has received his first senior international call-up.
He is in the New Zealand squad for their friendly against Mexico in Los Angeles on Wednesday, March 3 as the All-Whites prepare for the World Cup finals in South Africa that start in June.
Smith, who is currently on loan at League One Brentford to gain first-team experience, is 19 and lived in New Zealand from eight until 16 when he moved back to England to join the Ipswich academy.
