FABIAN Wilnis is to stay a Blue.The Dutchman who skippered Ipswich Town to an honourable draw at Carrow Road to secure a fourth point of the season from the old enemy, and stretch the unbeaten run to three derbies, is set to sign a new one-year contract this week.

By Derek Davis

FABIAN Wilnis is to stay a Blue.

The Dutchman who skippered Ipswich Town to an honourable draw at Carrow Road to secure a fourth point of the season from the old enemy, and stretch the unbeaten run to three derbies, is set to sign a new one-year contract this week.

Wilnis last night told the EADT: “We spoke during last week with my agent and we hope to finalise all the details this week but hopefully it will all be completed and I will be a Blues player for another 12-months.”

The 36-year-old celebrated his new contract by leading out the Blues at Carrow Road, and putting in a man-of-the-match performance.

Wilnis said: “It was a very proud moment for me. I have been at this club for such a long time and I know what it means to the Ipswich supporters to play against Norwich, so to skipper the side was very emotional for me.”

Wilnis admitted the side struggled at first but felt they deserved at least the draw and might even have won it.

He said: “For the first 20 minutes we could not get going. We talked about it before the game and knew they would come at us at 100mph so when we conceded the early goal it was very disappointing.

“We had a little chat in the dressing room about how we are a better side than we were showing and in the second half we showed our true colours.

“At the end I was looking for us to go on and win it as we did last year but overall I guess 1-1 was a fair enough result.”

Wilnis believes the result and performances of late signal a bright future for Jim Magilton's side.

He said: “This is a message to the fans for next year. We showed we can play good football and I think they appreciated what we can do and I believe we can win promotion.

“We could relegate Leeds on Saturday and it's important for us to carry on playing well.

“Everyone is playing for the future and we also want to help sell the tickets because we want a full stadium to be playing in.”

And Wilnis expressed his delight that fellow defender David Wright popped up with the vital equaliser.

He said: “I'm so happy for David. He has been through a heck of a lot in his personal life so this was a bright moment in his life in a black period.”

Wilnis has made 309 appearances since joining the Blues for a bargain £220,000 from Dutch side De Graafschap.