EXCLUSIVECHRIS Makin has admitted backing the wrong horse by walking out on Ipswich Town and signing for Leicester City.The defender upset many at Portman Road by turning down a short-term contract designed to prove his fitness after a lengthy injury lay-off and had the option of a season-long deal at the end of it.

EXCLUSIVE

CHRIS Makin has admitted backing the wrong horse by walking out on Ipswich Town and signing for Leicester City.

The defender upset many at Portman Road by turning down a short-term contract designed to prove his fitness after a lengthy injury lay-off and had the option of a season-long deal at the end of it.

Makin chose the security of a guaranteed year at the Walkers Stadium, coupled with the chance to play with the pre-season favourites for promotion, while there were doubts at the time about how Town would fare after losing some senior players.

Makin said: "I had my reasons. Sometimes you make decisions in life and they don't work out and this is one of them.

"I can't say I regret it. I made a decision and I have to back myself but you have to look at all the facts now and see it hasn't worked out."

If Makin had stayed then there is a fair chance he would have been a regular left back, adding to his 92 Town appearances, and would be playing at the top of the league instead of being on the fringes of a struggling Foxes.

He said: "It is all ifs and buts and I have come back here playing for Leicester. Ipswich are top of the league and I get substituted. But you just have to get on with it – there is no point in moaning about what has gone.

"It is one of those things in football, you have to take the bad with the good.

"I have to sort myself out, you never know in football what will happen."

Makin was surprisingly substituted after an hour and knows he is not likely to figure in Craig Levein's future plans.

He said: "He is the manager he makes the decisions, and he can do that.

"My future here doesn't look promising but you have to accept that is part of football."

The former Oldham, Marseilles and Sunderland defender, who played under Royle at Boundary Park, knew he was going to get a hot reception from an unsympathetic Town crowd.

The 31-year-old insisted his decision was not fiscally based, but involved a number of factors and was not upset by the supporters' reaction.

Makin said: "It was good. It was as I expected and not a problem. I enjoyed the banter and it made for a good atmosphere.

"It was nothing to do with money. I took a pay cut to go to Leicester, so all that calling me greedy was not right, you need to know the full facts.

"The fans gave it to me both barrels but I have had a lot worse than that at various clubs.

"There are a lot of good supporters here at Ipswich Town, I know that, I have experienced that this weekend so I'm not worried about that."

Makin, who won a Division One title with Sunderland in 1999, has no doubts that his former team-mates are about to taste Premiership football once more.

He said: "Ipswich weren't convincing but they will go up. We are no great shakes ourselves but we caused Ipswich problems. The main thing is they have another three points and a step nearer to promotion, and it will be fantastic for the club when they do that."

Makin put Leicester's first defeat in eight games down to a terrible start.

He said: "It seemed we had just got on the pitch and we were a goal down. After two set pieces it was two down, and you just don't give yourself a chance.

"We had some great opportunities to score and Kelvin made some great blocks but if you don't take your chances you are not going to get anything."

Makin is already beginning to rue taking the chance to leave Ipswich last summer but is bound to bounce back.