He started the season watching from the stands.

Now Jason Scotland’s rise from reserve to leading the Town charge up the Championship table has been hailed by manager Paul Jewell as an example to his fellow frontmen.

The 32-year-old, who almost moved to divisional rivals Blackpool on deadline day, has started the last four matches alongside Michael Chopra helping Ipswich to an impressive three wins and a draw.

And Jewell believes the likes of Nathan Ellington and Tamas Priskin should draw inspiration from how Scotland has come in from the cold.

The Town boss said: “Jason Scotland is an example to everybody. He started the season out the team and on deadline day we nearly sold him.

“But he grasped the nettle and is an example to anyone. It’s never too late to turn things around.”

And Ellington, who has impressed both on the training ground and on the pitch recently, said of his positional rival: “Jason has done really well. It proves if you are in and around the squad and working hard, you can get in the side and stay in the side.”

As for Priskin, who is currently away with Hungary, Jewell has refused to close the door on the striker’s career in Suffolk – despite him publicly saying that he wanted out as he was in the manager’s “bad books”.

The manager said: “He’s a good player Tamas but he needs to go and play. He’s an international footballer in the Hungarian squad, but he’s not in our squad at the minute.

“I saw his quotes saying he wants to go out and play on loan, but when he got that opportunity (with Leeds in August), he had to think about it. Maybe that might jolt him into life. But I never want to write somebody off.”