IPSWICH Town captain Gareth McAuley today voiced a glowing recommendation for his former defensive partner Patrick Kisnorbo.

Elvin King

IPSWICH Town captain Gareth McAuley today voiced a glowing recommendation for his former defensive partner Patrick Kisnorbo.

The 28-year-old Australian is out of contract at Leicester City and been told that he can leave the Walkers Stadium.

Kisnorbo has been linked with a move to Ipswich, while Crystal Palace are also believed to be interested.

Town coach Tony Loughlan worked with Kisnorbo at Leicester, and McAuley said: “Patrick would be a good acquisition.

“A lot of Premier League clubs were looking at him at one time and Tony would know all about him.

“We had a good understanding and it was a good partnership despite Leicester's relegation to League One.

“Patrick suffered a medial knee ligament injury similar to the one that Luca Civelli is now recovering from and I have not spoken to him for a while and believe he is Australian and about to get married.”

Kisnorbo joined Leicester from Hearts on a free transfer in the summer of 2005 and made 140 appearances and scored 12 goals.

He was born in Melbourne of Italian and Mauritian descent and has 14 senior Australian caps along with appear-ances at Under-20 and Under-23 levels.

McAuley is eagerly awaiting the new campaign under Roy Keane and expects to be ready for pre-season training when players report back on July 2.

He suffered a grade two medial knee ligament strain in the last week of the season after recovering from a ham-string problem sustained playing for Northern Ireland in March.

“I was in line to play against Coventry in the final game when there was an accidental collision in training,” said McAuley.

“I felt sorry for myself, and had to wear a knee brace for six weeks including a week's break in the Dubai sunshine.

“But then I looked at Ben Thatcher, whose knee injury is worse than mine, and then Luca who has an injury that all footballers' dread and understood that I was not too unlucky.

“I have seen the specialist and can start building up strength in my knee with cycling and swimming and feel I am achieving something.

“I am seeing specialist Mark Bowditch again on June 22 and am confident I will be fit for pre-season.”

McAuley recalled the impact that Keane had on his arrival at Portman Road.

“The flip-flops were on,” said McAuley. “We were cruising down towards the end of the season.

“The new manager came in and everything pepped up with players knowing they had places to play for and that if you don't perform then you won't play.”

McAuley is attending his sister's wedding in Northern Ireland at the weekend with injury ruling him out anyway of a friendly Northern Ireland game in Italy.

“The Irish manager has opted for younger players and this will give them a chance to show what they can do,” said McAuley who will carry on with his recuperation next week.