Ipswich Town captain Luke Chambers believes midfielder Teddy Bishop could ‘transform’ the Blues if he can find a consistent level of fitness.
The 23-year-old made his first appearance of the season during a two-minute cameo at Wycombe on New Year's Day, having recovered from a knee injury, and could be involved today when the Blues take on Exeter in the EFL Trophy.
It's been a tough few years for the academy product, with injuries limiting him to just 23 league starts in five seasons since breaking into the first-team in 2014/15.
The goal now is to maintain a level of fitness and, if he can, Chambers believes Bishop's dribbling ability and drive from the centre of midfield can give the Blues a real boost.
"With Teddy we have spoken about what a good player he is - we just have to get him fit and keep him fit," Chambers said.
"The medical team and Tom Walsh, our strength and conditioning coach, have done a good job with him and I'm looking forward to Bish consistently playing games. If he can do that, he will be a real asset to the club.
"The club have looked after him and he had a freak injury in the summer. I really felt for him but he needs to start delivering now. You can't have potential forever.
"He's a great athlete, a great talent and he could transform this team but he needs to get fit and stay fit.
"Nobody knows that more than Teddy."
Chambers' comments were echoed by Emyr Huws, who himself has seen his career dogged by injuries in recent years.
"He's a top player, everyone knows that," Huws said. "He's had it tough with injuries like me. I think they'll integrate Ted progressively and he'll add to the team, 100%. He's different to what we've got. He's creative, a really good player and can hopefully help us."
Reflecting on his brief return at Adams Park, Bishop said: "It's great to be back out on the pitch and it would have been nice if we had been able to get the three points.
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"But it was a better performance than we have had in the last few weeks so I think we'll take it and move on. I was obviously pleased to be involved.
"There haven't been any U23 games for me to play in but I was still feeling ready to come back because I've been training for the last four weeks or so and that has all gone well.
"My fitness is up there so hopefully I can take the minutes I got against Wycombe into the next block of games.
"Wherever it is, and whatever competition, I just need to get minutes to kickstart my season."
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