Downes broke the silence says “he was ‘wound up’ by boos on Ipswich return”

Having joined Town’s academy at the age of eight, the all-action youngster went on to become the youngest captain in the club’s history.

After starring during the Blues’ first season down in League One, Downes handed in a transfer request after Crystal Palace showed interest and then asked not to play in a season-opener as that situation rumbled on. A deal could not be struck and he subsequently said he had ‘no regrets’ over trying to force a move to a Premier League club.

The following summer, having made 100 appearances for Ipswich, Downes exited as part of Paul Cook’s ‘Demolition Man’ squad rebuild, moving to Championship club Swansea City for £1.5m. He admitted, upon signing for the Welsh club, that ‘I wanted to leave’.

An outstanding season at second-tier level saw him move up the pyramid again, joining his beloved West Ham in a £9m+ deal which bagged Ipswich a significant sell-on fee.

Currently on a season-long loan at Southampton, he returned to Portman Road for the first time on Easter Monday and left on the end of a 3-2 defeat after Kieran McKenna’s men came from 2-1 down to secure all three points with a dramatic 97th minute goal.

Asked about some of the boos that had been aimed in his direction, Downes told BBC Solent: “It does wind me up a little bit. The fans don’t know the full story of what happened at Ipswich. They have absolutely no idea.

“The manager (Cook) didn’t want me at the time I left, he put me with the Under-23s team, what did they want me to do?

“They got sell on fees after I left and money for my sale. It is what it is though, fans are fans.”

Ipswich’s victory kept them top of the Championship table and left Southampton’s automatic promotion hopes hanging by a thread.

“I find it hard to get over tough results,” said Downes.

“I’m still recovering to be honest, it takes me a good few days mentally to put it to bed.”

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