Skipper Luke Chambers says Ipswich Town will try to be more of a passing side this season.

The Blues have been criticised for being too direct in their approach under manager Mick McCarthy, with several home games lacking entertainment value at the back end of last season.

Speaking following Saturday’s 1-1 pre-season draw at League Two side Cambridge United, Chambers said: “We’ve been working on a few things, trying to keep more possession of the ball.

“We’re not suddenly going to become a possession team overnight, but we need to have some different strings to our bow as opposed to just knocking it up to the forwards and playing off the second balls.

“I think, in parts this pre-season, we’ve shown we can do that, so we’ll continue to work on that and hopefully we can take that into the season.”

With creative duo David McGoldrick and Teddy Bishop back in action following long-term injury absences, Chambers enthused: “Teddy can be absolutely anything he wants to be if he keeps his head on his shoulders and listens to the people who can influence him in a positive way. He could be earning 50 grand a week in a year’s time.

“As long as we can pass him the ball to his feet, hopefully we’ll see the best of him.”

He continued: “We missed Didzy and we missed Bish last season. If you put them into our team maybe we finish sixth and not seventh. That was made to feel like it was a bit of a disaster, but in terms of what we’ve spent I think the gaffer has performed miracles.

“You could list 10 teams now who would expect to be going up, so it’s going to be difficult, but we’re ready for the challenge.

“There is a lot to be proud of, a lot to look forward to and we’ll be giving it absolutely everything to get off to a flying start.”