Ipswich v Bristol City: DJ Campbell may have played his way out of Portman Road.

That is the fear of Town boss Mick McCarthy who admits Campbell’s scintillating scoring form – a catalyst for Ipswich’s rise off the bottom – could see QPR keep him, or other clubs come in for him.

Campbell will remain at the Blues until January 5, a run of four league games before the FA Cup match at Aston Villa where he might be cup-tied by his parent club.

Town’s rumoured pursuit of Wolves’ Sylvan Ebanks-Blake suggests McCarthy is already looking at other attacking targets.

The Ipswich manager said: “I saw Harry (Redknapp) said that he wouldn’t mind him around the place at QPR – I’d expect him to say that anyway.

“We can’t do anything until January 6 anyway (the day after his loan spell runs out). He’s scoring goals and somebody else might come in for DJ. We need to get to the bottom of that. I would have thought we will start discussions about it pretty damn soon.”

In the meantime, McCarthy has called on Campbell and strike partner Daryl Murphy to replicate the form they showed in Town’s last home match – the 3-0 win over Millwall – in today’s home match against Bristol City (3pm ko)

He added: “The games he (Murphy) came off the bench, he was excellent, then him and DJ (Campbell) were superb against Millwall. I’d love to see another performance like that from those two.”

Waiting patiently in the wings is Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Michael Chopra who are currently playing second-fiddle to Murphy and Campbell respectively.

But of Chopra, McCarthy insisted: “I thought he did well when he came on last weekend (the 2-0 defeat at Leeds). In fact, every time he’s come on he’s contributed something.”