THE goalkeeping union will host a special branch meeting tonight when Ipswich keepers Richard Wright and Shane Supple meet up with old friends at St Mary's.

Derek Davis

THE goalkeeping union will host a special branch meeting tonight when Ipswich keepers Richard Wright and Shane Supple meet up with old friends at St Mary's.

The bond between Wright and Southampton was strengthened when former Town goalkeeping coach Malcolm Webster asked his former prodigy to help their relegation battle.

Wright obliged and stood in for close friend and former Blues keeper Kelvin Davis who had suffered a broken finger.

Wright said: “Malcolm played a great part in be going to Southampton. Kelvin and other keeper had injuries and Malcolm gave me a call and it went from there.

“That link was fantastic and it worked well. I was there for four weeks and it was then extended.”

The former Arsenal and Everton keeper went on loan from West Ham and the friendship with Davis, who he already knew, flourished.

He said: “I worked with Kelvin when I was down there. He was not quite right after breaking a finger so I was kept on but we did train together.

“He is a good friend and we still talk regularly. He is a laid back guy who works very hard at his game and he is a wonderful character to have a round the dressing room.”

Davis had also worked with Supple when he was at Ipswich and the young Irish keeper was in goal as Town beat Southampton to win the FA Youth Cup.

Ipswich are looking to win tonight to follow up on their fine victory over Reading on Saturday and Wright insists it is important to build momentum.

He said: “We need to build on that win at the weekend. There were times when we did suffer and we were under a lot of pressure but we weathered that storm and we played some great football.

“We got the ball down, passed it and our football paid off with two very good goals and it could have been two or three more after hitting the crossbar and a post.”

Wright believes the key for Town is to build from a solid defensive base and take the chances that are sure to come along.

He added: “In any game you have to be solid as a unit, especially away from home and then impose your game.

“We have to make sure we stick together as we did on Saturday and kill the game off.”