Argentinian midfielder Luciano Civelli will finally return to action for the first time in 16 months on Tuesday when manager Roy Keane takes a strong squad of 22 players to Newmarket Town for the first friendly of pre-season (KO 7.45pm). Civelli has been out of action since damaging knee ligaments in the home game with Burnley in March 2009.

Keane told the club site: "It's good that Luca is back with us and out on the training field.

"The boy has had a bad injury and he's had to be patient. He still has a long way to go yet, but he's making progress and that's obviously good news for Luca and for the football club."

Town will field a different side in each half at Newmarket with only a couple of first teamers likely to be missing. The squad returned to training last Monday with only Tommy Smith absent, the New Zealand international having been given an extra three weeks off after his exploits at the World Cup.

Keane added: "The players have had a good break and we're looking forward to getting going now.

"Our pre-season will be a lot more settled than last year and hopefully the players we brought in will have a better start to the season than they did last year."

Tickets for the Newmarket game are priced at £6 for adults and £3 for children. Details of how to get to Newmarket's Cricket Field Road ground can be found here.

A full list of Town’s pre-season fixtures can be found here. The planned match at Southend on Friday could be cancelled.

Squad: Jack Ainsley, Troy Brown, Alex Bruce, Luciano Civelli, Pablo Couñago, Damien Delaney, Carlos Edwards, Owen Garvan, Colin Healy, Luke Hyam, Grant Leadbitter, Arran Lee-Barrett, Lee Martin, Gareth McAuley, Brian Murphy, David Norris, Shane O'Connor, Jaime Peters, Tamás Priskin, Alan Quinn, Jon Stead and Jon Walters.

Photo: Action Images

IpswichElvis added 13:55 - Jul 6 Tough choice though even though I would rather he stays. Wickham may shine next year or he could be one of these teenagers who never lived up to their early promise. Do you take £8m for him now and take that chance? IF our witless "messiah" does decide to sell, he needs to include a season long loan with the option of another year.........
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IpswichElvis added 14:02 - Jul 6 joeippy01 - oh yes, as for your reliable source - I just hope you tell that person that they talk bollocks when their news snippet turns out to be false. However, on the off chance it is true and Wickham IS sold TODAY , I will not say anything more negative about Keane until the kick off.
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IpswichElvis added 14:03 - Jul 6 Apart from slagging him off for selling obviously !!!!
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VILJOEN67 added 14:48 - Jul 6 Connor wickhams absence seems ominous as there is no reported injury. It would be nice to enjoy him for one season at least, even if that is on loan back. Evans has already said that Roy must sell before he buys. The kind of cash could certainly strengthen the team if indeed the purchases are wise. Chopra scored 20 plus last season, so he is still able to do the business at this level and would be a good addition. If connor develops as we think he will this season he realistically will not be here beyond this coming season anyway.

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IpswichElvis added 15:44 - Jul 6 Connor is just having extra time off cos he is a kid and he had England duty also. It's not ominous and joeippy's source is probably a man in a pub somwhere who has met Connor several times. If only he could find the pics to prove it !!!!
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WadzillaBhoy added 17:31 - Jul 6 Keano even said himself that if he sold Connor he'd be lynched... so I doubt that is true. I think Keano knows he wont be able to sell half the players he has put up for transfer, I think he has done it to give them a kick up the backside. They need to show they want to play for the shirt or at least they need to play well to impress scouts, either way hopefully they will perform better than last season. Fingers crossed!. COYB

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peckhamblue added 20:31 - Jul 6 no wickham no billy clark & colin healy & alan quinn. why?
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Skip73 added 21:40 - Jul 6 Finally some good news, good luck Luca. Also I've heard that Clinton Morrison is a free agent, surely worth a punt isn't it? Come on Town pull yer fingers out.
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Skip73 added 21:44 - Jul 6 Joeippy, your 'reliable source' is probably your brother in law who heard it from his mate at work
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