THERE was something of a déjà vu in George Burley's words after seeing his new team beaten 4-1 by his old club."Ipswich will be promoted next season," he said.

THERE was something of a déjà vu in George Burley's words after seeing his new team beaten 4-1 by his old club.

"Ipswich will be promoted next season," he said.

Burley is still not clear on his own future with Derby County or anywhere else and explained there were no plans to meet Rams bosses this week.

He returns to Ipswich today and will attend the 25th anniversary of the FA Cup win against Arsenal when the winning team get together tomorrow.

He said: "I have done what I came here to do and that was keep Derby in this division. Now we will just have to wait and see what happens. There is a massive job here at Derby, for whoever is manager."

The Blues' fans gave him a good reception and he was happy to respond to both sets of fans when they chanted for a wave early in the game.

Not so in the second half, after he had seen Rob Lee's opening goal rubbed out by an Ian Evatt own goal, a sharp finish by Darren Bent, a terrific free kick by Jim Magilton and a sweet finish from skipper Matt Holland.

Burley said: "The first two goals lost us the game. They were both down to bad defending.

"Jim's free kick was excellent and I thought we were playing okay up until that point but Ipswich are as good a side as I know. I brought in every single player to the club so I know what they are all about.

"Ipswich will be promoted next season. They have a great squad who play football the right way."