Ipswich Town manager Paul Lambert says it will be a case of ‘best man wins’ when it comes to new signing Callum Elder and Myles Kenlock competing for the left-back slot.
Elder, 23, has arrived on loan from Premier League club Leicester City until the end of the season.
The Australian made a handful of appearances on loan at Championship clubs Brentford and Barnsley in 2016/17 before playing a key role as Wigan won League One in 2017/18.
MORE: ‘Ipswich is still a massive club’ - Blues complete loan signing of Leicester left-back Elder
He has been signed due to the fact Danish international Jonas Knudsen, now in the final six months of contract, has told Lambert that he ‘has one eye on something else’.
Homegrown left-back Myles Kenlock, 22, has started the last two games – taking his number of Championship appearances to 39 – and performed admirably.
MORE: ‘Jonas wants to keep his eye open for something else’ – Lambert on Knudsen future
“The best man wins,” said Lambert. “There is no secret in football. It’s an individual sport in a team game. If you perform, great, if you don’t then you know what happens. There’s no magic formula.
“You need competition, as I’ve said before. Nobody knows, at this moment, how the Jonas situation will pan out. But we had to bring somebody else in.
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“You’re right 100% about Myles though, he’s been excellent.”
On Elder, who is yet to play for the Foxes, Lambert said: “He’s got a drive to his game, a really good hunger, a really good left foot and the great thing about him is that he wanted to be here. As soon as I spoke to him he wanted to come. That’s the type of lads we need.
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Asked if Knudsen leaving this month was now inevitable, the Blues boss said: “No, but we had to be prepared for that. I’ve not heard anything, whether somebody will come in for him, but if a player says he has one eye on something then you never know.
“Jonas has been great in training, hasn’t been a problem at all, it’s just the situation with his contract which has been allowed to run.
“The club did offer something to him so... yeah.”
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