Ipswich Town fitness coach Jim Henry has left his role with the club.

East Anglian Daily Times: Town fitness coach Jim Henry out on the pitch with a non playing Stephen Ward ahead of the Arsenal game. Picture: Steve Waller www.stephenwaller.comTown fitness coach Jim Henry out on the pitch with a non playing Stephen Ward ahead of the Arsenal game. Picture: Steve Waller www.stephenwaller.com (Image: Archant)

The Blues’ head of athletic performance and sport science moved to Suffolk with manager Paul Lambert in October 2018, having previously worked with him at Stoke, but has now moved on.

The club say his departure ‘is for personal reasons and he will be staying on in a consultancy role’.

News of Henry’s departure is thought to have been met with surprise by many at the club, given how highly he has been regarded.

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East Anglian Daily Times: Fitness coach Jim Henry Picture: ROSS HALLSFitness coach Jim Henry Picture: ROSS HALLS (Image: Archant)

It’s understood Henry’s departure follows a number of disagreements in recent weeks, resulting in his absence from Ipswich’s last two games at Portman Road – where he would usually have led the early stages of the team’s warm-up.

Town’s general manager of football operations, Lee O’Neill said: “I spoke to Jim recently and we agreed that for personal reasons it would be beneficial for him to return home to Scotland,

“Jim is vastly experienced and we will continue to use that knowledge over the rest of the season but it will now be in more of a consultancy role.”

As well as working with Lambert at Stoke, the highly-respected coach previously led Celtic’s fitness team for a decade at a time when the Town boss was a fixture in the Glasgow giants’ midfield.

The former Scottish judo champion has also previously worked at Aston Villa, Sunderland and Rangers.