SHANE Supple is happy to put his career into the hands of Ipswich Town manager Roy Keane.

SHANE Supple is happy to put his career into the hands of Ipswich Town manager Roy Keane.

The 22-year-old goalkeeper signed a new one-year contract at Portman Road yesterday - and admitted that if the former Manchester United star had not come in it could have been a different matter.

“It's not because the manager is Irish like myself,” said Supple, who has sat on the Town's substitutes' bench 101 times in the last three seasons.

“I played with Jim Magilton and worked for him for three years. I have a lot of time for him.

“But it did not work out for me under his management, and I would have taken that into consideration if he had stayed in charge at Portman Road.

“Once the new manager offered me a chance to stay I talked it over with one or two people and made my decision to give it a go under the his regime.

“A one-year deal suits me fine, and it goes without saying that this is going to be a massive year for me when I will be doing all I can to knock Richard Wright from the number one spot.”

Supple has a message for Blues supporters who may be expecting Keane to ease the club into the Premier League at his first attempt.

“He did that at Sunderland, and that was a fantastic achievement,” added Supple, who has been at Ipswich since his schoolboy days.

“But our fans should keep their feet on the ground and not get carried away.

“The Championship is going to be a tough division and it will be tough. There is no doubt about that.”

Supple revealed that he has a love/hate relationship with Wright, who played in all but one Town game last season and was named player of the year.

“We were both coached by Malcolm Webster at a young age and are in the same mould,” said Supple. “We both have the same philosophy and are mates who get on well.

“But that doesn't mean I don't want his place. This is my objective in 2009/10 in what is a massive time for me as at my age I need to be playing.

“Richard has10 years experience on me and he enjoyed a marvellous time last season when I had no regrets. But I will be putting him under a lot of pressure.”

Supple has made 37 appearances for Town and spent two months on loan at Oldham last season where his stay was curtailed because of a knee injury.