IPSWICH TOWN: Alex Bruce joined a select band of Blues bad boys when he was shown a red card in the 2-1 home win over Leeds United earlier this month.

The 26-year-old defender became the seventh ex-Town player to be sent off against the Suffolk-based club.

Bruce saw red after two tackles on Andros Townsend that were deemed worthy of cautions by Hertfordshire-based referee Keith Hill.

His departure with the score 1-1 had a crucial effect on the match with Tommy Smith heading home a late Ipswich winner.

When Bruce trudged off he followed in the footsteps of Eddie Youds (Bradford), Andy Legg (Reading), Andy Bernal (Reading), Jermaine Wright (Crewe), Jon Macken (Crystal Palace) and Stephen Bywater (Derby County) others who overstepped the mark when competing against a club they had left or were later to join.

And it was the fourth time that Bruce had been sent off at Portman Road, which is a record.

The son of the Sunderland manager was also dismissed against Derby on April 14 2007, along with Bywater in a red card that was later rescinded, Wolverhampton on August 23 2008 and Bristol City on December 10 2008.

Luca Civelli’s route back to first team football remains slow after suffering a severe knee injury in March 2009.

The Argentinean played for 75 minutes in a reserve 3-3 draw at Southend on Tuesday.

He was struck on the head in the opening period and made little impact on the game.

Shane O’Connor came through 90 minutes to show that he has recovered from a hamstring problem and he scored one of the goals along with Jack Ainsley and Reggie Lambe.

Ainsley and first-year academy scholar Aaron Jones did well at the back with Conor Hourihane playing in front of the back four.

Lambe was the liveliest forward in a game where Southend scored two late goals to deny what would have been a deserved Town victory.