TYRONE Barnett has been given a second chance at Ipswich Town – 10 months after failing to land a dream move at Portman Road.

The 6ft 3ins tall striker last night completed a two-month loan deal with Ipswich after being transfer-listed by the London Road club last week.

Barnett was first targeted by Paul Jewell in January before Peterborough paid Crawley Town a reported �1.2million for the 27-year-old. He was understandably delighted to get his career back on track and finally have a chance to show the Ipswich faithful what he can do.

Barnett said: “I know there was interest in Ipswich in January and I was really interested in hearing what they had to say.

“I’m not sure how far down the line it went, but for some reason, it never happened. So when I heard about their interest yesterday morning, it made perfect sense.”

Barnett will provide Mick McCarthy’s men with a strong aerial presence – at both ends of the pitch.

But Town fans will have to wait until next Tuesday night’s home match against Nottingham Forest to potentially see the new man, who is ineligible for Saturday’s visit of his parent club.

He said: “I understand why I can’t play on Saturday. But I am just looking forward to starting training today and doing all I can to try to impress before Tuesday’s match.

“I am obviously known for my aerial strength and we had to defend a lot at Peterborough so I helped with that. I am good at holding the ball [up], but I want to show fans there is a lot more to my game.”

After the furore at London Road last week, when Barnett was one of four players originally transfer-listed by the club after a breach of club discipline, the striker is clearly ready to concentrate on hisfootball.

We understand the two clubs have not held any firm discussions about turning the two-month loan into a permanent deal in the New Year, with Peterborough keen to recoup as much of the money they invested last January.

But while Barnett is only focusing on impressing in the short-term, he has left Town fans in no doubt where he wants to be playing his football on a permanent basis.

He explained: “I am happy to get away from Peterborough. I wanted to get the situation [last week] resolved and coming here means I can put it behind me.

“Having been at the club yesterday, I know how big and the manager [Mick McCarthy] has told me what he is trying to do.

“I am not looking too far ahead. I just want to play games and score goals but if everything goes well, I would definitely want to do something long-term.