Town have recalled defender Pim Balkestein from his loan spell at Brentford. The Dutchman was due to remain with the Bees until January 17th.

The Blues insisted on being able to recall the 22-year-old at 24 hours’ notice when the spell was extended at the end of his first month with the League One side.

Balkestein is probably required at Portman Road as cover with full-back David Wright having picked up a cut to a foot at Palace, while central defender Damien Delaney appeared to be struggling with what looked like a groin problem in the second half of the 3-0 victory over QPR on Monday.

The former Heerenveen man, who made eight appearances while at Griffin Park, wasn’t given permission to play in the FA Cup for Brentford and will be available for Saturday’s game at Blackpool if required.

Photo: Action Images

halliday05 added 10:34 - Dec 30 i dont think he will get a place in the starting line up i would keep him at brentford
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Beattie_agrees added 10:37 - Dec 30 Good move. Hopefully Keano will play Pim against Blackpool to give Delaney and Wright a rest to recover properly.
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jas0999 added 10:42 - Dec 30 If Delaney and Wright are injured, with Bruce still not fully fit, this is a good decision, although I still don't think Pim is good enough just yet. That said, if we need cover, we need cover.
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biffo added 10:47 - Dec 30 a dutchman in the team never done town any harm
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taximan added 10:58 - Dec 30 you are comparing dim to our other dutch greats???????????
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westleydan added 10:59 - Dec 30 What ever happened to Ben Thatcher? Is he just growing old at the club doing not doing alot? Replacement temporarily?
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matt_the_blue added 11:12 - Dec 30 I think Thatcher fell foul of the 'move to Ipswich' policy Keano implemented but wasn't farmed out on loan like Lisbie was. He's obviously only used to getting in to the starting XI by playing golf with the gaffer ;-)
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jas0999 added 11:14 - Dec 30 Thatcher is I believe out of favour and not fully fit. One of Jim's poorer signings I am sure you will agree. Thatcher rufuses to move closer to the training ground and as a result turned up 4 hours late when it snowed a few weeks back. RK maintains that excess travelling is not good for the player. As discussed by Taxi on another post, I agree.
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muhrensleftfoot added 11:24 - Dec 30 I think Thatcher is a decent left back at this level, but his fitness problems & unwillingness to move nearer to Ipswich means that he'll probably never play for RK. A bit worrying that our solid looking defense is beginning to break up due to injuries etc. Pim will surely only be cover - if Delaney & Bruce are unfit, I expect Smith will get the nod. Even if Bruce is fit, I would still put Smith in, as we need the balance there with a left footer.

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jditfc added 11:45 - Dec 30 i dont get this at all... why not play some young guns against them ie Tommy Smith, Troy Brown, Jack Ainsley
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biffo added 12:04 - Dec 30 no
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pimballwizard added 12:45 - Dec 30 OK would have prefered a bit more "work" experience at Griffin Park but needs must and reckon he will be adequate cover for the current wounded. Go for it Pim!
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BlueBoots added 13:04 - Dec 30 By all accounts has been playing very well at Brentford - they haven't conceded many goals in the 8 matches he played in. Hopefully the experience has helped him recover from the shaky start to the season (and to be fair every one of our defenders had at least 1 dodgy game during that period) and he can now kick on for the rest of the season...
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bedsitfc added 13:44 - Dec 30 i think we have had an offer come in for him on a perm
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petersongoal added 14:41 - Dec 30 everyone deserves a shot a redemption. i say good luck to the lad. He'd never be the number one choice for me but when needs must, give the lad a chance!
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