Town boss Roy Keane says left-back Ben Thatcher is currently not in his plans, despite having returned to fitness after last season’s knee ligament injury. The veteran former Welsh international has not featured for either the reserves or first team this season.
Keane confirmed that the 33-year-old is fit but says he is not in his thoughts for inclusion in his squad at the present time: "Not at the moment, no.”
Earlier in the summer, Thatcher was reported to be unwilling to relocate to Suffolk, something Keane wants all his players to do, but the Blues boss says this isn’t entirely the reason for the defender’s exclusion: "It’ll be lots of issues. Players have got to give themselves a chance, whether it’s players travelling, their attitude to training or being on time for training. That all comes into the reckoning if you want to be in my team.
"There’s lots of issues with lots of players, although generally speaking I’m delighted with the group, but there’ll always be one or two you need a bit more from.”
Thatcher, who picked up his knee injury in last season’s 3-2 derby victory over Norwich City, last played a game when the reserves took on Bury Town in a pre-season friendly on August 4th when he played 62 minutes before being replaced.