If teen pro footballer Reggie Lambe fails to make the grade at English club Ipswich Town it won't be for lack of effort.

The 18-year-old Bermudian is putting his heart and soul into establishing himself at the Championship side and appears to be his own worst critic.

When he blunders in training he puts in solo stints to iron out the errors and he is unforgiving about his own first-team debut, away to Shrewsbury in the League Cup.

He played 80 minutes and nearly scored with a rare header as Ipswich ground out their first win of the season.

But Lambe still felt he should have done much better.

"It was sort of overwhelming. I didn't really do much in the game to affect it.

"I think I was caught up in the moment of it being my debut and the amount of people in the ground – everything else beside me concentrating on the game. I was disappointed."

Intense he may be, but it's that attitude which has got him a contract when other Bermudians with similar ability have floundered according to his former coach Kenny Thompson.

So where does he get his focus from?

"It comes from within," said Lambe. "Since I was young I wanted to be a football player. A few things nearly stopped me from becoming that."

He credits a move to boarding school South Kent in Connecticut for rescuing him from peer pressure to join the gang subculture which would have wrecked his prospects.

"Most of my friends were into fighting. Sometimes you sort of follow that. Because everyone is doing it, you think it's the cool thing to do."

But a year at South Kent put him back on track.

"I got my head down and started doing the right things. When I came here I focused – that has kept me here."

The teen keeps abreast of Bermuda news and is dismayed by the rising tit-for-tat violence regularly hitting the headlines.

"Some young players are good but need to get away before they get caught up in that. That's what I did, I wanted to get away from all the distractions, violence, girls."

But Lambe is not without a wayward side.

He was sent off last Tuesday night after just 30 minutes for stamping on a Haverhill Rovers player during his side's 4-0 win at Portman Road.

Lambe said: "It was silly. I wasn't really keeping the ball, some of their tackles were bad and I lost my head. I regretted it straight away and the manager had a word with me after the game."

But often Lambe is listening to his own inner voice, telling him what he needs to improve on.

He thinks his upper body strength is letting him down.

"I need to position my body better to protect the ball. I am not able to hold players off in tight situations."

To fix that he's been working in the gym to bulk up but also realises he needs sessions with players trying to get at the ball. "It's not about defending the ball against weights."

Clearly training is something Lambe takes very seriously.

"It is what you make it. If you want to go out and just do the basic things then you are not really going to get anything out of it. But if you train hard you are going to get the most benefit."

Sessions are held virtually every morning, some days there is an afternoon work-out too.

Then there are his solo sessions in the sweat box – a four-sided contraption which allows a player to practice on his own by passing and receiving the rebound.

"After training if I feel like I could have done more, and got the ball more. If I made a bad pass I will go in the sweat box and work on the bad pass."

Bermudians are hoping to see Lambe's sharply honed skills next month for the series of Under-23 friendlies over the festive period but he can't be certain Ipswich will release him.

If not, he will stay with the Tractor Boys for the Christmas period. "I don't get homesick now. I know more people here now and I am able to have fun.

"I am settling in quite well but the weather is the hardest thing to cope with. It changes from day to day. When it's cold and windy it's the worst."

Oddly, he also had to cope with the language barrier. When he first came no one could understand him.

"It's so different to how we talk back in Bermuda – slang words when you are talking to friends. When I came here no-one seemed to understand anything I was saying."

Thankfully, in his current situation where he needs to listen way more than he talks, he was able to understand what was being said to him.

And the youngster said under-fire boss Roy Keane is a good manager who looks out for his players while reserve manager Bryan Klug is also very helpful.

"He gives you what you need to know – what you did wrong, what you got right."

At one stage Keane had mooted the possibility of loaning Lambe out to give him more competitive game exposure but so far nothing has come of it.

"If it is going to help me in the future I will go on loan. But I am quite content to stay here and develop."

Lambe played centre-midfield in Bermuda but was converted to wide positions in England and is sometimes pushed up front to make the most of his pace.

"My pace with the ball is what I like to use in games."

He would prefer to play on the right as he favours his right foot but has mainly been on the left and is now confident crossing with both feet.

Earlier this season Lambe said his confidence was low but now he said getting the balance right is crucial, over confidence won't help either.

"I feel relaxed before games. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Sometimes I like feeling the nerves."

Lambe has bagged four goals this season – a hat-trick in the 6-2 drubbing of Stevenage plus one in a friendly against a Chelsea second-string outfit which showcased England international Joe Cole who bossed the game from the centre of the park to lead his side to a 5-2 victory.

Lambe enthused: "He got on the ball and made things happen, switching play – everything you could look for in a centre midfield player, he did."

Lambe said he isn't worried about the limited programme of reserves team fixtures, which ends in March after just 18 league outings. To him reserve football is only a means to an end.

"If you play well in the reserves you should be getting in the first team."

Despite his exile to England's south east coast, Bermuda is never far from Lambe's thoughts and he still occasionally chats to Somerset Eagles boss Kenny Thompson and ex-Dandy Town manager Scott Morton. Without Thompson, Lambe said he would not be where he is now.

Thompson got him trials in Holland at Sparta and Utrecht before the opening came up at Ipswich, which Lambe grabbed with both hands.

"I made my decision straight away. This felt much more like home, everything was better. The language was the same, I liked the style of play.

"Everyone at the club made me feel very welcome and made me feel like I was wanted.

"I felt comfortable, it is a family club which brings everyone together. Everyone really feels at home."

Despite not knowing much about the club's history before he signed, Lambe is now well versed in its rich past.

Established in 1878, Ipswich play at the 30,300 capacity Portman Road Stadium and spawned the two most successful England managers – Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson.

Ipswich won the League Championship in 1962 during Ramsey's reign and an FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981 under Robson.

Ipswich is a club with few enemies although they enjoy a fierce rivalry with Norwich City, 40 miles to their north. That atmosphere even spills over into youth and reserve games.

"It feels intense, you know you have to win. When I used to stay in digs, they used to say if you don't beat Norwich you are not eating tonight."

Thankfully catering is now taken care of by his dedicated mother Renita who lives with him.

"I have my mom cooking for me, she makes the right things – vegetables and steaks to re-energise. Instead of me having McDonalds and stuff like that."

At one stage Lambe was relishing the idea of getting away from the watchful eye of his parents and doing as he pleased.

Now he is grateful his mom is living with him after making tremendous sacrifices.

For a spell she worked for an English bank but gave that up because the job conflicted with watching Reggie's games.

"It's kind of hard on her because she just got married and has been away since the day they got married. But they talk all the time."

At the moment, Reggie comes first.

"I realise I need her there to help me cope. Sometimes you need someone to talk to. She is there when I get home. She is not strict but gives me her opinion."

And there is not much argument about his social life.

"I hardly go out, I have people come over my house to relax and play on the PlayStation."

Regular visitors include first-teamers Troy Brown, a Welsh defender, and Canadian midfielder Jamie Peters.

In his spare time he watches football, taking special note of players in his position. "Hopefully I can learn from their mistakes."

Despite London's proximity, Lambe spends little time in the capital, 65 miles away, other than trips to watch football.

He did once take in a wrestling match, just as a way of stopping himself from thinking about football all the time.

Indeed he always seems to be mulling over what he did well in training and what needs improving, sometimes leaning on his best pal, Dandy Town's Kwonde Lathan for support in calls home.

Lambe isn't of course the only Bermudian in the English game. Fellow wide-man Khano Smith is playing for Lincoln City in League Two – the bottom tier of professional football.

Lambe has been to watch Smith play in the 0-0 home draw with Torquay.

"I think that was his best game since he signed. He played well and was really getting at defenders. I think Lincoln are a good side for that league."

Smith made his name playing in the US but Lambe is glad to be plying his trade in the home of football rather than across the pond.

"I always wanted to come to England to play football. People really know what football is.

"Here the fans really get behind the team, they are passionate about football.

"It's the main sport. In America people talk about baseball, basketball, NFL before they even talk about football."

With his undeniable fervour Lambe seems a good match for football, English-style.

"The love I have for the game, the passion, just drives me on. I wouldn't want to do anything else than play football."

But the plain facts are most football hopefuls don't make it.

It would be a tough blow for Lambe but he is not thinking in those terms yet.

And if he doesn't make it at Ipswich he knows where the responsibility will lie.

"The coaches here give you every opportunity to make it as a top player. If you don't really make it, it's not down to them, it's down to you.

"You can be disappointed in yourself, no one else."

He has vowed to stay in England and look for another club if he does get released at the end of the season, with mom Renita pledging to stay with him.

"Wherever I go she is willing to come and follow me. She is behind me 100 percent. It feels good to have parents able to support your decision."