Midfielder Lee Evans hopes Ipswich Town are able to keep hold of goalkeeper Christian Walton this month.

We revealed on Tuesday how the Blues have launched their bid to land their loanee goalkeeper on a permanent basis, at a time when there are fears the 26-year-old could be recalled by his parent club and sold elsewhere.

Walton has impressed since coming into the Ipswich side in September, with Evans, his former Wigan team-mate as well as Town colleague, hopeful he will still be between the sticks when January ends.

“It would be massive because I think he’s shown, in his short time here, just how good of a goalkeeper he is,” Evans said.

“He would probably say he has another level to go to, as well. He’s an important player so we’ll see how it goes.

“We have other really good goalkeepers in Vaclav (Hladky) and Tomas (Holy) as well, but I’m sure the club will be doing everything they can to keep Christian at the club in January.”

Walton could return to the Town side at Gillingham on Saturday, having missed the victory over Wycombe due to a positive Covid test, for what is Town’s first game since December 29.

The League One fixture list has been impacted heavily by Covid in recent weeks, but Evans believes the Blues could benefit from the increasingly congested schedule due to the size of their squad.

“We were disappointed the Lincoln game (on New Year’s Day) was called off because we wanted to build our momentum.

“But it’s given us more time on the training ground, which could hopefully work to our benefit.

“We have a big squad and there will be a lot of Saturday-Tuesdays between now and the end of the season, so I’m sure everyone will play their part.

“It’s all about getting on a run now.”