Middlesbrough v Ipswich: Grant Leadbitter has hinted that he does have some regrets about his three-year spell at Ipswich Town.

Following family tragedy, the 26-year-old midfielder said he needed to get away from his native north east when he joined the Blues from Sunderland – in a joint �2.6m move alongside Carlos Edwards – in the summer of 2009.

Oozing Premier League class in his debut campaign under Roy Keane, Leadbitter’s performances regressed to a standard of solid if not spectacular.

And the man with a quiet off-field persona – a controversial choice as captain under Paul Jewell – decided the chance to move nearer home was too good to turn down this summer.

Now looking to reignite his career following a Bosman move, the midfielder said: “I’m not one of those people who look back – I live for today. I do occasionally look back and regret some things, but I can’t do anything about them now.

“Someone once told me to take today, never look back on yesterday and there’s no tomorrow, so work day-by-day.

“That said I think my time at Portman Road changed me as a person. Living down there is a nice place to live and I met some good people.

“But I’m playing for Middlesbrough now and don’t really fuss about what’s happening elsewhere.”

Leadbitter continued: “They (Ipswich) have had an indifferent start to the season, but they are better than that. I remember the game at the Riverside last season (0-0 draw) was a good open game, Ipswich played well that day, but I remember for some reason they always do, let’s hope this weekend we play better.

“I think I’ve settled in nicely. I’ve played pretty well in games and we’ve won our two home games so far by playing good football. I think the only game we haven’t played well in was Barnsley (away on the opening game of the season), but we bounced back to win two at home.

“We need to keep playing good football and attract the fans back to the stadium because that’s what we all want. We want to be a successful, collective team; supporters and city. Two wins and two defeats is not ideal, but we have been playing well and eventually that turns into winning runs.

“Train hard and your job is easier on a Saturday, that’s not rocket science. I think this group does that, they’re a good group and there are some good players here.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries, but if we keep playing well and believing in what we’re doing then even if we don’t get out rewards short term, in the long run we’ll get what we deserve.”

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