Ipswich Town goalkeeper Scott Loach hopes he isn’t faced with a difficult head or heart decision this summer.

The Nottingham-born 25-year-old was on the Blues’ books as a kid, got swept up in the euphoria which surrounded the Championship Play-off Final win of 2000 and remained a passionate supporter of the club after being released at the age of 12.

It was therefore the fulfilment of a childhood dream when he transferred from Watford to Portman Road in the summer of 2012, but he admits the stop-start nature of his year-and-half in Suffolk has been frustrating.

Having started 12 games at the beginning of his debut season, he was replaced by loanee Stephen Henderson for much of the mid-section of the campaign. Then, after finishing 2012/13 strongly, he was dropped just four league games into this season and now finds himself behind summer signing Dean Gerken in the pecking order.

Loach – who was part of a much-changed side for the FA Cup third round stalemate with Preston at Portman Road and will again start in a team full of fringe players for tonight’s replay at Deepdale – said: “It’s a tricky one for me. I love the club, but there comes a stage where you do need to play games. So far I’ve been fortunate enough to play a lot of games here, but you can end up settling into that number two role and that’s not what I want.

“You do need games to improve but that’s something we’ll look at in a few months time. Maybe that’s a chat we’ll have to have in the summer. For now I’ll just keep working hard because you never know when your chance will arrive in football.

“At the minute my main focus is hopefully getting another game in this replay and putting in a performance to give the manager a problem. A midweek trip to Preston may not be what everyone wanted, but for me this is another chance to shine.”

Loach added: “I’ll look back when I’m 40 and retired, see the framed Ipswich shirt on the wall and think ‘I played for my boyhood club’. It doesn’t matter if you play one game or 100 games, no-one can take that away from you. I’ve fulfilled a dream in coming here and the club means a lot to me, but this is my career at the end of the day.

“I could end up playing the last 20 games of the season yet, so – as I say – that’s a conversation that is a few months away yet.”

– See today’s EADT and Ipswich for full match preview. Follow @Stuart_Watson on Twitter for live match updates.