Ipswich Town’s Nico Valentine looking to put injury frustrations at loan club Needham Market firmly behind him to prove Marketmen belong at Step 2

It may have been a frustrating injury-hit first season at Bloomfields, but Nico Valentine is hellbent on playing a big role in Needham Market continuing to boast being Suffolk’s highest non-league club.

The 19-year-old winger is back for a second season on loan with Kevin Horlock’s squad from Ipswich Town, where he has been since the age of six.

And despite still training at Playford Road for most of the week, he is very much focused on helping the minnows of the Vanarama National League to keep their heads above water after their historic promotion.

The Debenham-based player’s big regret so far during his time with the Marketmen is he was not able to play a more active part in what has been some of the most magical days in the mid Suffolk club’s history.

But he is hoping to soon make up for that.

However, his return was in jeopardy after he dislocated his shoulder playing for Ipswich Town’s Under-21s side that stepped in at the last minute to replace the first team in a pre-season against Borussia Mönchengladbach in Austria.

Having suffered two injuries last term, including a season-ending hamstring tear, England Under-17s-capped Valentine said of what happened in early August: “I was like, oh, no, here we go again.

“Yes, it’s been a really frustrating time for me, especially last season.

“When I first came in I did my ankle and I was like, okay, six weeks, I can get back to it.

“And then I just started to break into the team again around February and I was enjoying my football here and then obviously tore my hamstring, which I was gutted about.

“I wanted to finish the season here and be involved in the games that got them promoted.

“I tried to keep myself in and around it as much as possible and the lads here made me feel involved, but, yes, injuries have been tough, though I’m hopefully here to stay (in the team) now.

“I’m doing everything I can in the gym, off the pitch, to make sure that I’m not put back in that same position.”

Having built up his fitness since returning in mid-September, Valentine has now played in the last three matches, including his first start on Saturday, in the 1-0 away league defeat to Chorley.

And from what he has seen so far at their new level, he is confident they will only remain at Step 2 but also prove a thorn in people’s sides.

Ahead of tomorrow’s home game with 11th-placed Kidderminster Harriers (3pm), he said: “We shouldn’t be involved in a relegation scrap, we’ve got the quality here to be winning games.”

The Marketmen go into the fixture, the first of back-to-back games at the Ecologic Stadium, Bloomfields, with 13th-placed Brackley Town to visit on Tuesday (7.45pm), sitting one place and one point above the four-team relegation zone in 20th, with Kevin Horlock’s side having taken 10 points from their opening 11 games.

Ingram on verge of new goals record

Tomorrow could be a magical occasion for Needham’s longest-serving player, Luke Ingram, who needs just one more goal to become the club’s outright record goalscorer. His four goals in the first half against Long Melford in the Suffolk Premier Cup the Tuesday before last saw him draw level with Sam Newson on 134.

Ipswich-based Ingram is also set to hit the 500 appearance mark for the club, should he not miss a game, on November 2 in the home game against Spennymoor. He is already the club’s record appearance-maker.