LEWIS Price today vowed to keep his place in the Ipswich Town team.The 22-year-old keeper revealed his shock at being called back into the Blues' starting line-up for Satu-rday's Championship 0-0 draw with Hull City at Portman Road.

By Elvin King

LEWIS Price today vowed to keep his place in the Ipswich Town team.

The 22-year-old keeper revealed his shock at being called back into the Blues' starting line-up for Satu-rday's Championship 0-0 draw with Hull City at Portman Road.

The Welsh international was overlooked in the summer for the vacant number one Ipswich jersey, with Irish youth international Shane Supple given that honour.

“I came back from international duty on Thursday and was told by the manager I would be playing on Saturday,” said Price.

“It was a shock, but a lovely one.

“Now I am back in the team my aim is to stay number one in the eyes of the manager. Keeping a clean sheet on Saturday was a good start.”

Price was the regular number one until Christ-mas last season, when 18-year-old Supple took over.

And there was a further blow when the number one jersey vacated by Kelvin Davis 14 months ago was handed to Supple last month.

“It shows how up and down football can be,” said Price.

“I tried not to let it get me down, but I felt my best option was to be loaned out so that I could play first team football.

“The plan was to come back a better player and then make my dream of being the Ipswich number one come true.

“Shane is a super guy and we get on well. He is also an exceptional goalkeeper and I know that he will keep me on my toes.”

Price had praise for the revamped Town back four and Ipswich fans.

He said: “Our newcomers looked good and the back four knitted together well in front of me. The encouragement we got from the fans was a huge help.

“Some of our players were edgy because of our poor start to the season, but the fans' support settled them down. They helped us and can also play a part in our future matches as we look to move up the table.”

Town skipper Jason De Vos added: “Our new lads did well, Alex Bruce slotted in well at the back while Mark Noble and Simon Walton looked very comfortable as well.

“It is going to take time to bed everyone in and once we get a good understanding we will improve further and start to get more points.

“We're satisfied with a clean sheet but disappointed we didn't win the game. We created enough chances to win but didn't take those chances.

“It is still early in the season and we weren't slitting our wrists.”