Edwin Kiefe Sanders appeals from his guilty plea conviction on one count of possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of children. He contends that *407 his conviction should be set aside because his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to file a motion to suppress and by failing to request that the district court appoint a psychiatrist to evaluate his competence to plead guilty.

As a general rule, this court will not consider an ineffeetive-assistance-of-coun-sel claim that was not raised in district court. United States v. Higdon, 832 F.2d 312, 313-14 (5th Cir. 1987). Moreover, the Supreme Court has emphasized that a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion is the preferred method for raising a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Massaro v. United States, 538 U.S. 500, 503-04, 123 S.Ct. 1690, 155 L.Ed.2d 714 (2003). As the record for this case is not sufficiently developed to qualify for an exception to that general rule, we decline to consider Sanders’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in this appeal without prejudice to his ability to raise this claim in a § 2255 motion.

The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.