Ipswich Town striker David McGoldrick admits he faces ‘a big decision’ as he enters the final few months of his contract.

The front man – who turns 30 at the end of next month – is now in the final year of his deal at Portman Road and, unlike most of his team-mates, the club does not have a 12-month extension clause to activate.

Following two injury-hit years, the Republic of Ireland international has started this season in good form, scoring six goals and producing three assists. Altogether, he has netted 34 goals in 133 appearances for the Blues since joining on a free transfer from hometown club Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2013.

“This is one of the most important years for me, no doubt about that,” said McGoldrick, in an interview with the club programme.

“I’m out of contract and there is no option on that either. It’s down to me and the club what happens next year.

“I have not been offered anything by the club yet but if that changes then obviously I’ve got to look at it. I have a lot of respect for the club and the staff here.”

• Blues skipper hopes club don’t delay McGoldrick talks

Having recently become a father of four, he continued: “My family are back in Nottingham, so I have to think about that. I’m 29 now and have probably got one or maybe two contracts ahead of me before I’m in the real world, as they say!

“It’s a short career, football, so I know it’s a big decision for me ahead but, as I said, it’s not something I’m worried about. I will deal with it when I come across it.”

Town skipper Luke Chambers has voiced his frustration at the way his own contract talks were handled last season.

He recently said: “It would have been better to have that conversation a lot earlier than we did, it wasn’t a fun six months for me, but it’s the chairman’s club and he runs it how he wants to run it. It’s obviously not going to have the best affect on people if they’ve been a regular for five years to see their contract run down until the last few weeks though.”

• Skuse doesn’t know if he has a future at Town

Bartosz Bialkowski, Cole Skuse, Jonas Knudsen, Tristan Nydam, Teddy Bishop, Luke Hyam, Kieffer Moore and Kevin Bru are also in the final year of their contracts.

Midfielder Skuse recently said: “It’s out of my hands. They might not want to give me a contract. Whatever will be, will be.”