Alan Lee, Jimmy Juan and Fabian Wilnis all face fitness tests on Saturday morning before a decision is made on whether they are ready to face Preston at Deepdale. Lee and Juan were back in full training on Thursday but Wilnis remains out after injuring his knee in last weekend s 2-0 defeat of Leicester City.
Defender Jay McEveley is the surprise inclusion in Town s squad for Saturday s game at Preston. Joe Royle has named an 18-man party for the trip to Deepdale.
Blues boss Paul Jewell was still waiting to hear whether all his international players had come through their games unscathed at Thursday’s press conference ahead of Saturday’s game at Barnsley. Linchpin defender Gareth McAuley, Darren O’Dea and Connor Wickham were back and OK, but Hungarian pair Tamás Priskin and Márton Fülöp, and Canadian Jaime Peters had not yet returned to Portman Road.
Defender Alex Bruce played the first 51 minutes of the Republic of Ireland s B international with Scotland in Dublin on Tuesday evening. The game ended in a 0-0 draw.
Roy Keane says the Blues will definitely be without skipper David Norris, Grant Leadbitter and Gareth McAuley when they face Barnsley at Portman Road on Saturday (KO 3pm). The Town manager says he’s also unlikely to risk Darren O’Dea and Mark Kennedy, who are on their way back from injuries.