Ipswich Town are understood to be in discussions with Peter Reid about potentially taking on a consultancy role with the club.

The 65-year-old Liverpudlian - who has gained vast experience as a player and manager at the top level - watched the Blues lose 2-1 at Accrington Stanley and was in the Portman Road directors' box for the 2-1 win against Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.

And now he could be reunited with Cook, having worked as an advisor to him over three years at Wigan.

“How can someone like that not be of any use to us?” said Cook, when Reid was brought in to help at the Latics in 2017.

“Peter’s a vastly-experienced figure in the game, and his presence will be of great benefit to us.”

East Anglian Daily Times: Peter Reid advised Paul Cook at Wigan and could do the same again at Ipswich Town.Peter Reid advised Paul Cook at Wigan and could do the same again at Ipswich Town. (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Later that year, Cook said: "I’ve said before I think it’s an absolute crime someone like Peter wasn’t involved in and around a football club.

"He has so much experience, enthusiasm and knowledge. We talk about football for hours.

"People wondered when Peter arrived what kind of a role he would have. But there was never any specific role. It was just about having Peter in the football club.

"I think the chairman and Peter kick each other in the directors' box when the game’s going on, it’s like that. It’s invaluable having someone like him to bounce off. Every day with Peter you’re learning something.

"I might have been tough on one of the lads, but then you’ll see Peter whispering in his ear later, offering something else.

"As a football person, I enjoy football people, and Peter is a real football person."

Cook has already appointed three fellow Liverpudlians to his first team coaching staff in the form of the relatively inexperienced trio of Francis Jeffers, Gary Roberts and Ian Craney.

Jeffers, 40, had been coaching in Everton' academy, Roberts, 37, only hung up his boots in March, while former Wigan kit man Craney, 39, started his coaching badges in 2019.

Last month, when quizzed as to whether he was missing the influence of his long-term assistant manager Leam Richardson, who opted to take on the Wigan managerial job full-time, Cook said: "We've got a great belief in making the club better. If we feel that experience should come in (to help the coaching team), I'd be all for it. I'd be all for anything that makes this football club better."

As a player, combative midfielder Reid was a key man for Everton during their halcyon days of the mid-80s and earned 13 caps for England, playing under Sir Bobby Robson and alongside Terry Butcher at the World Cup in 1986.

After a player-manager role at Manchester City came a seven-year stint at the helm of Sunderland, during which time he oversaw two Championship titles and two seventh-place Premier League finishes, also taking charge of England's U21s.

Short spells in charge of Leeds, Coventry, Thailand, Plymouth and Mumbai City followed, while he had a spell assisting Tony Pulis at Stoke and also helping Bolton's interim manager Jimmy Phillips.