He was the driving force in a 2-0 victory against Walsall with Darren Ambrose, on his league debut, and Marcus Bent getting the goals.

Aston Villa have expressed an interest in Holland – who is rated at around £8million – and manager Graham Taylor attended the game.

Burley, however, is hoping Holland will lead the club back to the Premiership at the first attempt.

“Matt has come back from the World Cup looking lively and has had an outstanding pre-season,” said the Ipswich boss.

“He has shown he wants to take the club back to the Premiership. You could see by his performance today he is right behind the team.

“When clubs get relegated you have to listen to offers but it doesn’t mean you have to accept them.

“I have said all along that Matt is the last player I want to lose.”

Both Ipswich scorers ended up on the injured list with Ambrose suffering a nasty cut inside his lip.

Bent also suffered a hamstring strain when scoring a spectacular second goal for the club.

Ambrose’s injury meant Ipswich played the last 23 minutes with 10 men as they had used all three substitutes.

Burley said: “The fact that we have won 2-0 away from home after playing so long with 10 men shows what a good side we are.”

Walsall faded after a bright start and manager Colin Lee said; “We didn’t really have the luck after working very hard.

“Ipswich are one of the better teams in the first division but they are not unbeatable.”