O'Dea played with Ipswich boss Roy Keane at Celtic

Ipswich Town loanee Darren O'Dea says getting back into the plans of parent club Celtic is off the agenda.

It is a shift in thinking for the defender, 23, who admits his career in Scotland had previously taken priority.

"Maybe when I went down to Reading last year, that was my aim," he told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"This time I'm just focused on playing for Ipswich, doing as well as I can here and letting other things take care of themselves."

The Irishman played just eight times during a four-month loan spell at the Madejski Stadium last season, but returned to Celtic Park to become a first-team regular at the back end of the campaign.

It looked like the centre-half's fortunes were changing but a summer of upheaval at Celtic persuaded him to look elsewhere.

"A lot of new players came in and I felt that if a manager is bringing in that many new players he's maybe going to favour playing them," he said.

"I'm a young, hungry player that wants to play every week. I didn't feel I was guaranteed that there but neither am I guaranteed it here."

O'Dea will have to break up the central-defensive pairing of Gareth McAuley and Tommy Smith if he is to get games under his belt while in Suffolk, but says he can slot in elsewhere in the back-four.

"Any opportunities I get I'll need to take with both hands," he said.

"I'd say predominately I'm a centre-half but left-back, or anywhere else in the team, is not a problem."

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