Former Ipswich star David Lowe is back in Town on Tuesday, aiming to steal three priceless promotion points for his club Wigan Athletic.Lowe, a prolific striker signed by manager John Duncan in 1987, had five good years at Portman Road before suffering a serious knee injury.

By Dave Vincent

Former Ipswich star David Lowe is back in Town on Tuesday, aiming to steal three priceless promotion points for his club Wigan Athletic.

Lowe, a prolific striker signed by manager John Duncan in 1987, had five good years at Portman Road before suffering a serious knee injury.

Now he is first-team coach for Wigan Athletic, his home-town club, and is helping manager Paul Jewell prepare his team to take on Town at Portman Road in one of the games of the Championship season.

Lowe said: “Ipswich are an excellent team. We have utmost respect for them. We know we are in for a tough game.”

The last time Lowe played at Portman Road was for Leicester City, in the Premiership, when Town won 4-1 on New Year's Day 1995.

But he was with the Wigan party last season when they were very impressive in winning 3-1.

“It was a very good performance last year and hopefully we can do it again. I am very much looking forward to coming back for the game,” he added. “I think it will be a great game for the Coca-Cola Championship between two very good teams, hopefully it will be an exciting game.

“Of course I would like Wigan to win, because I am working there, but I have a soft spot for Ipswich.

“I enjoyed every minute of it there. I was signed as a 21-year-old, from Wigan, and it was my first club away from home.

“It was a fantastic experience for me. I have really good memories of my team. I was fortunate I played with some good players and scored a few goals.

“One game that sticks out in my memory is the FA Cup tie against Manchester United (in 1988), we lost 2-1 and we should have had a blatant penalty.

“My career there (at Ipswich) was ended when I had an anterior cruciate ligament injury and I was sold to Leicester by Mick McGiven, who had taken over from John Lyall.

“I was at Leicester for four years, then I went back to Wigan and was on loan at Port Vale.

“Wigan offered me a coaching role with the academy but I wanted to go on playing and went to Wrexham instead.

“After that I worked for the PFA until Paul (Jewell) asked me to return to Wigan.

“I enjoy the coaching, whether it is with the strikers or the goalkeepers or taking the reserves. You can never replace actually playing football, but it is a good substitute really.

“I have a few people I keep in touch with in the Stowmarket and Onehouse area. Most of the personnel and playing side of the club has changed though I know Bryan Klug and Tony Humes who coach with the academy.

“It will be nice to be back.

“The last four years have been terrific for us at Wigan and we are still progressing in the right way.”