Ex Tottenham striker Darren McQueen has ‘got a bit of something’ admits Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy

Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy admits that young striker Darren McQueen ‘has got a bit of something’ following his lively goalscoring display in Saturday’s 4-0 pre-season win over Irish side Shelbourne.

McQueen, 19, was handed a one-year professional deal following his release by Tottenham this summer. The young striker had previously worked under Blues academy director Bryan Klug at Spurs and impressed on trial with Town at the back end of last season.

He played the first half of Ipswich’s 4-0 win over Irish second tier side Shelbourne on Saturday, showing good composure to score goal number two in what was a lively display which left many of the travelling supporters asking ‘who was that?’

“Darren is somebody who I think was quite highly thought of at Spurs, but young players can get lost among all the players they have at these Premier League clubs,” said McCarthy, when asked about the player who team mates have already nicknamed ‘Steve’.

“He has got a bit of something, there’s no doubt about it.”

McQueen was one of several young players who travelled to Ireland for last week’s training camp, along with Ben Wyatt (left-back recently recruited following his release by Norwich), Alex Henshall (left-winger signed following his release by Manchester City) and academy products Teddy Bishop, Byron Lawrence, Matt Clarke and Jack Marriott.

“We’re trying to get a better Under-21s team,” said McCarthy. “The ones we’ve added will help Mark Kennedy.”

– Ipswich Town host West Ham in a pre-season friendly tonight (7.45pm). Follow @Stuart_Watson on Twitter for live match updates.