Ireland forward Sammie Szmodics keen to emulate ‘amazing’ Jamie Vardy

Ipswich forward Sammie Szmodics is determined to keep following in the footsteps of Jamie Vardy and prove he is no one-season wonder in the Premier League.

Szmodics realised a childhood dream at the age of 28 this summer when he signed for newly-promoted Town and became a top-flight player.

A first start at champions Manchester City was followed by a first Premier League goal which means, like Leicester forward Vardy, he has scored in the top five divisions of English football.

“What Jamie has done is obviously amazing and at his age now to still be doing it,” Szmodics said ahead of Saturday’s trip to Southampton.

“I had a good chat with him last year at the end of the season, obviously we played against Leicester. He congratulated me on the goals.

“It is quite a similar story. He worked his way up. Maybe he was a bit later than me but he worked up and has done it week in, week out in the Premier League now. It’s something ultimately I want to achieve. This is my first season but our journeys are very similar.

“He gave me a bottle of Champagne that said congratulations for the season I had. It was something he didn’t need to do. Obviously I don’t know him on a personal level but it shows the character he is.”

Szmodics is no stranger to being written off with a difficult spell at Bristol City in 2019, not enough to dissuade his belief that he could be a Premier League player.

It was a similar story when the former Colchester attacker was relegated from the Sky Bet Championship with Peterborough in 2022.

While Ipswich will be backed to go straight back down, Szmodics is determined to build on his 33 goals for Blackburn last season to clinch survival for Kieran McKenna’s men.

He added: “I’ve played and scored in every