IPSWICH TOWN: Darren O’Dea is looking to make his move to Portman Road a long term one.

The 23-year-old defender is expected to be in the Blues squad for Saturday’s npower Championship match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park after joining on a loan to January 27 from Scottish giants Celtic.

He spent a few months on loan at Reading in the back end of last year, but says his move south of the border this time is under different circumstances.

“I want to play well, and I want to improve,” said the Republic of Ireland international.

“At Reading I wanted to do that with a return to Celtic in mind.

“Now my aim is to as well as I can at Ipswich and let other teams take care of themselves.

“There have been massive changes at Celtic with the manager bringing in a number of players who I would expect him to favour to play.

“”I’m hungry and I want to play every week and the only club I want to impress is Ipswich.”

O’Dea confirmed that there was interest in a move to Ipswich last year, adding: “For whatever reason it did not come to anything.

“I was breaking through when Roy Keane played at Celtic, and he’s someone who can help me improve as a player.

“At the moment I’m not looking beyond January – just to get into the Ipswich team and stay there.

“It will not be easy as from what I’ve seen in training already there is enough quality in the squad to make a serious challenge for promotion.

“I know the strength of the Championship having played for Reading and when Ipswich came in I did not need any persuading.”

Keane might be considering O’Dea to play alongside Gareth McAuley at Palace with Tommy Smith perhaps switching to left back, and the on-loan player says that he is not concerned where he plays.

“I just want to be in the team and play games,” he said.

“I’m predominantly a central defender but I can play full back – in fact anywhere in the team if that’s what the manager wants.

“Having been brought up at Celtic I’ve inherited a winning mentality and this is something I am bringing to Portman Road.

“The Premier League is where every player wants to play and I’m no different, and it’s something that I would love to achieve.

“But hold on, I’ve only been here a couple of days so far.

“We had a day off today and are back in training tomorrow when I will see whether I will be involved on Saturday or not.

“The facilities here are first class and the players have been very welcoming – now I want to help Ipswich Town to a successful season.”