Ipswich Town captain Luke Chambers has challenged Teddy Bishop to fulfil his potential following the young midfielder’s return from injury.

Bishop made his first appearance for the Blues this season in the defeat at Aston Villa on November 25, before being an unused substitute for the wins over Derby and Nottingham Forest, having dealt with a string of injury problems over the last two years.

The 21-year-old burst onto the scene in the 2014-15 season, alerting a number of leading clubs, and while Chambers is delighted to see his team-mate back on the field, he would love nothing more than to see him hit the heights in an Ipswich shirt.

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“It’s massive for us to have Emms (Emyr Huws) and Bish back in the squad with the quality they bring,” Chambers said.

“Bish in particular has been out for so long. It’s been one set-back after another for him. We know how good he is though and he needs to go out and fulfil that potential and show people the talent he has.

“It’s about delivering that potential now. Football doesn’t wait for anyone. You’ve got to make it happen and I hope it does because I love the kid.

“I know how good he is and hopefully his injuries are behind him and he can kick on from here.”

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Chambers also praised manager Mick McCarthy’s role in Bishop’s returning, insisting many managers may not have stuck by a player who has spent so long on the sidelines.

“He’s been looked after well by the staff here and he is lucky that we have a manager who has a genuine affinity with the players and gives time for players to get back playing,” the skipper said, in his column for the Blues’ matchday programme.

“You see in football now the turnover of managers and you can easily be in a situation if you are out for a long time injured that a new manager comes in and doesn’t talk to that player because he’s not involved. That never happens with the manager here.”

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Chambers believes the return of the likes of Bishop and Emyr Huws is a real boost to a squad which, he believes is underrated.

“I don’t think we get the credit we deserve to be honest – from the outside anyway,” he added.

“We are up against clubs with bigger budgets, bigger squads and we are still going toe-to-toe with them.

“We are always competitive and we showed that again on Tuesday night at Derby.

“If we can get all our players back, I think we have got a chance of achieving something. We everyone is fit, we definitely have a team to take notice of.”

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