NATHAN Ellington is up for the fight of convincing Paul Jewell not to call time on his Blues career.

The Duke has arguably been the Ipswich manager’s biggest transfer disappointment, with the striker showing little of the prolific talents which once saw him fire 24 Championship goals under Jewell at Wigan Athletic.

After a dismal campaign which saw the 31-year-old make just one league start, Ellington has now suffered the indignity of being dropped from the club’s tour to the Netherlands.

The squad flew out on Sunday night with Jewell only opting to take three recognised strikers – including 20-year-old Ronan Murray who spent much of last season out on loan at Swindon. But Ellington, and other first team squad member Jaime Peters, will instead spend this week training at Playford Road.

But with his Ipswich career very much in the balance, a source close to Ellington said: “Nathan is not looking to leave Ipswich. He is only focused on getting back into Paul Jewell’s plans.”

With a year left on his contract and the current financial uncertainty in the football world, Ellington is more focused on proving his worth to Jewell and the Blues fans alike.

Jewell last year opted to hand discarded trio Ivar Ingimarsson, Colin Healy and Tamas Priskin a pay-off which saw them walk away from Portman Road before their contract officially ended.

But while we understand this has been mooted in the corridors of power, Ellington is more determined to challenge Michael Chopra, Jason Scotland and Murray for a spot in Town’s first 11.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas might also get a chance to stake his claim up front, a position he has always craved, while Jewell is actively seeking fresh faces to spearhead his attack.

Steven Davies continues to be linked and the Town boss might actually be considering adding two new strikers to his squad – including a Premier League forward on loan once the top tier squads are finalised next month.