WATFORD keeper Scott Loach has spoken of his gratitude after starting his footballing education at Ipswich Town.

But Loach won’t have any mixed emotions when he takes to the Portman Road field tomorrow afternoon – looking to atone for his costly error in Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw against Bristol City.

The keeper was forced to apologise after allowing an Adrian Mariappa back pass to go under his foot and gift City a point in midweek.

But he is expected to start in goal for Watford against the club he supports and where he spent a period of time in the academy.

Speaking in tomorrow’s matchday programme, Loach said: “It was Ipswich where my goalkeeping education started and I’ll always be grateful to the club for that.

“Working under people like Malcolm Webster and also Jim Hollman, I learnt such a lot about goalkeeping. “I’ve always been an Ipswich supporter as it’s the club I grew up with.

“Richard Wright was my hero at the time, I always looked up to him as a fellow ‘keeper, but I enjoyed watching the likes of Alex Mathie, James Scowcroft and Matt Holland.

“It’s always nice to come back to see a few old faces such as Ken Goody, who was one of our coaches, and of course Malcolm is now back at the club. “There’s always a decent surface at Portman Road as well so it should be a good game.”

Wright won’t figure in tomorrow’s match due to his shoulder injury so Arran Lee-Barrett will continue in goal unless manager Paul Jewell feels David Stockdale has recovered sufficiently from his own shoulder problem.