Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says several players are facing a second-half fitness test ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s League One home game against Cheltenham Town.
Tyrese John Jules (hamstring) and Marcus Harness (illness) missed Monday night’s 3-0 win over Bracknell Town in the FA Cup.
Asked if the two were ready to return to action, McKenna said, “There are some ailments in the Marcus category, and some knocks.
“To be honest, we will be doing a late check on quite a few players.
Meanwhile, Blues bosses say Ghassan Ahadme and Greg Lee are close to returning to action after breaking a foot and a leg respectively.
“Gassin and Greg are very close to training in groups, which is good,” McKenna said.
“In the case of Gassin, I think he could be an option against Buxton, and that would be a big boost.”
Of the injured Lee Evans, he said:
“He’s still wearing the brace, so at the moment the ligaments in his knee need to heal. We don’t know how fast it will accelerate.”
Panutche Camara has recently returned to action after groin surgery and has finished as runners-up in the Cup against Cambridge and Bracknell.
“Because of the low numbers, he’s in the matchday squad,” McKenna said. “How far from full fitness and full confidence is he? There is
“It’s hard to join a team or club like this when there’s no preseason and you haven’t played much football since March or April last year.
“I think it will take him a few more weeks to be at his best.
“But in the situation we are in, he has to be ready to play and he works hard for that.”
McKenna added: “The team is very tight at the moment, maybe he’s been like that for about six weeks now. We started with pretty big numbers, so it’s different for us.”
“It’s got it’s upsides and downsides. At the moment everyone feels very close to the team. We can give the players a lot of individualized attention and we don’t have to leave anyone out of the matchday squad. ”
“On the one hand, we don’t have the same depth of choice and depth that we had at the start of the season, and we don’t have the ability to make so many substitutes and refresh certain positions early in the game.
“That’s right. We’re making the most of tight groups right now.”
