Ipswich Town captain Carlos Edwards has encouraged his teammate Jay Emmanuel-Thomas to fulfill his potential between now and the end of the season.

Former Arsenal trainee Emmanuel-Thomas had recently spent eight matches out of the senior Ipswich squad following criticism from manager Mick McCarthy regarding his work rate during a development side encounter.

However, he returned during the weekend's 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers and went on to assist Edwards, who scored the only goal of the game at Portman Road.

Having seen the positive side of the 22-year-old, Edwards has challenged the attacker to produce his best form on a more regular basis.

"We can get a lot more from him. He needs to believe in himself once he has been called upon, whether or not that is in the last five minutes or not. He has got to pull his finger out and do what the players and manager know he is capable of," Edwards is quoted is saying by the East Anglian Daily Times.

"He has bags of talent. I don't think he knows what talent he's got. The players, myself, the manager are going to keep on at him whether he likes it or not to get the best out of him. Hopefully he will take it on the chin as we are in this together.

"We need each other and hopefully he will take it with a pinch of salt and a smile on his face."

Emmanuel-Thomas joined Ipswich from the Gunners in July 2011.