Toumani Diagouraga is keen to get his career back on track at Ipswich Town.

The box-to-box midfielder played a starring role in the Brentford team which finished fifth in the Championship table less than two years ago, started well enough at Leeds United but has been jettisoned by new boss Garry Monk this season.

He still has another year on his contract, but has not played a first-team game since the opening weekend of the campaign and has been made to train with the youth team recently.

“It’s been very frustrating to say the least,” said the Paris-born 29-year-old, who admitted he has been staying away from Elland Road on match-days. “Everything was going well last year, but it was a new manager, new ideas and sometimes you don’t fit in. The manager was very straight with me, he told me early on I was not part of his plans and I’ve just had to grin and bear it and wait for my chance to go somewhere else.

“That’s part and parcel of football and you just have to move forwards.

“I was very close to joining two other Championship teams, but at the last minute Ipswich came in and I decided to come here.

“This is the fresh start I need. I don’t know what will happen in the summer, but it’s not rocket science that he (Monk) doesn’t want me. I shouldn’t think he’ll stand in my way.”

Diagouraga, whose last match was an Under-23 game for Leeds almost six weeks ago, could make his Town debut at Preston tomorrow afternoon. Blues boss Mick McCarthy sees his new signing as the perfect partner for Cole Skuse in the middle.

“I won’t say I’m match fit, because for me to say that having not played a game for so long would not be realistic,” said the former Watford, Hereford and Peterborough player. “Whether it’s 60, 70, 80, 90 minutes I’ll give it my all. That’s all you can ever do.”