ADAM Proudlock has had his contract paid up by Ipswich Town after being told he will not be offered a new deal in the summer.The former Wolves and Sheffield Wednesday striker has suffered from injury and a loss of form since arriving from Hillsborough and never made the hoped-for impact at Portman Road.

By Derek Davis

ADAM Proudlock has had his contract paid up by Ipswich Town after being told he will not be offered a new deal in the summer.

The former Wolves and Sheffield Wednesday striker has suffered from injury and a loss of form since arriving from Hillsborough and never made the hoped-for impact at Portman Road.

Proudlock has been offered the chance to stay in Suffolk to work on his rehabilitation after a knee operation but is also free to return to his Telford home.

The 24-year-old was released by Wednesday after a series of disciplinary problems but Blues boss Joe Royle was quick to point out that Proudlock had not been any trouble during his five-month stay with Town.

Royle said: “We have told Adam that he won't be offered a new contract in the summer and we have agreed to pay him up now. It has not worked out the way he would have hoped, but there have been no problems with Adam, certainly no repetition of any of the breaches of discipline that precipitated his move here.”

Proudlock would not have played this season anyway with his knee injury and the Town boss is beginning to look a little healthier on the striker front with Sam Parkin making his comeback from a broken ankle in the reserves last night. Nicky Forster is not far behind after having a knee operation, while Danny Haynes is likely to be on the bench today against Hull City after recovering from an ankle knock and illness.

Dean McDonald is looking to impress enough over the next seven games to earn a contract, while Alan Lee will hope to get back on the goal trail against Hull this afternoon.

Also involved in the reserves game with West Ham at Needham Market was Jay McEveley, who will also be on the bench against the Tigers today. The on-loan Blackburn defender was originally due to miss the reserve match and be involved with the first team but Scott Barron breezed through training without any sign of it affecting his troublesome hamstring.

Royle said: “I decided at the last minute that Jay would probably be better off playing 90 minutes for the reserves than just getting 20 minutes off the bench for the first team. This way he can still be on the bench against Hull and have some more game time under his belt.”

As expected Jimmy Juan did not recover sufficiently to be involved against Hull, but Ian Westlake has and is expected to regain his place in midfield alongside Owen Garvan, who had been struggling a bit during the week.

Darren Currie needed minor surgery on his broken nose on Wednesday but will play without a protective cast.

Currie is adamant that Town will not cruise for the rest of the season and will be prepared to pounce if the other play-off contenders slip up. He said: “Until it is mathematically impossible we will not stop hoping. Our form since New Year shows we are capable of winning most of our last seven so there will be no slowing down on our part.”