Boss Roy Keane says he still intends to recall Kevin Lisbie from his season-long loan spell at Colchester in January. The U’s have said they want to sign the 31-year-old on a permanent basis when the transfer window opens, but Keane is yet to hear from the League One club’s manager Aidy Boothroyd.
Keane said: "They need to pick the phone up. At this moment in time Kevin will be coming back in January. I said that two months ago and that still stands.
"As I’ve said with any of our players, not just Kevin, if clubs are interested, then pick up the phone. That’s what I do when I’m interested in players.”
The Blues boss is pleased with Lisbie’s progress with the Essex side, which has seen him net 10 goals so far this season: "Kevin is a good player, I think he had his disappointments when we first came to the club.
"We gave one or two players opportunities to go and speak to other clubs, Kevin took that and he’s doing really well. But we also had the option that we’d take him back in January.
"He’s gone away, he’s got that sharpness, he’s scored goals. He’ll come back to us, a team who are lacking goals, and we look forward to getting him back.”
Lisbie himself says he would prefer to remain at the Weston Homes Community Stadium: "I would love to sign in January — whether it will be done is another matter.
"A lot has been said for no reason and so early on as well. I came here for a year and everyone knew the situation.
"I want to be at Colchester — I didn’t really get the chance at Ipswich and it would be hard for me to go back there and start all over again. There are players there I don’t know and I’d rather stay here and finish the season.
"We’re in a great position to be promoted and I feel like I’ve been a major part of that and I want that to carry on.”
Lisbie and Ben Thatcher were understood to have alienated Keane in the summer by refusing to move their family homes to Suffolk, but the Blues boss says the situation isn’t quite as clear-cut as that: "I’ll insist that he [Lisbie] has a base here in terms of the night before matches. It’s not up to me to tell people where to move their wives and children.
"For any players we sign in the future we’ll be setting certain distances in terms of their contracts. I know Middlesbrough have set it at 45 minutes as a lot of their players live in Harrogate and that type of area because of the schools. I think if you’re committing to a club it’s the least you’ve got to do.
"It’s players commuting every day that’s my issue. When players are commuting every day, that’s when they get injured."
The Blues boss will probably set Town's limit nearer to the club than Boro's: "I wouldn’t even think it should be 45 minutes, I’d think a lot less than that. There are a lot of good areas and schools around here, so it wouldn’t necessarily be 45 minutes.
"But let’s not get bogged down by that, my point is that you cannot be commuting for two hours every day and there are one or two players who are doing that and that’s why they haven’t been taking part.”
Lisbie and Thatcher both live in the London area, although the striker is understood to have rented a flat more locally last season.
Keane says his own experiences as a Celtic player have led to his policy: "I was getting a flight at six ‘o clock in the morning and hiring a car at Edinburgh airport and driving to Glasgow. I tore my hamstring twice at Celtic. It’s not the best preparation.”
The Blues boss says that contrary to popular belief, he’s not one to lay down the law to members of his squad: "I don’t go around putting a load of rules onto the players. You ask them and they’ll tell you that I’m quite easy going and I’ll adapt to certain players, such as the older ones. I did it with Yorky at Sunderland and Stern with his situation here.
"I’m quite happy to give and take, but this idea of sitting in your car in the morning for two hours, at least two hours, coming training and then driving home for another two hours, you don’t have to be a sports scientist to see that that’s not good for the body. Travelling’s tiring anyway, never mind if your job depends on how physically fit you are.”
Keane stresses that the situation only applies to a couple of squad members: "You’re only talking about one or two players and I discussed it with Kevin and Ben at the end of last season, I’m not hiding behind anything with that.”
Asked if Thatcher’s absence from all first team and reserve football this season is down to his refusal to move, Keane wouldn’t be drawn into giving too much detail: "Ben’s injured anyway. I won’t go into certain things with certain players, but the same players are injured.
"Sitting in your car for two hours — and sometimes that’s three or four hours - isn’t going to help a knee injury.”
Meanwhile, Alan Quinn took a kick at Bristol City on Saturday but is expected to be fine to face Peterborough tomorrow, while Lee Martin missed the trip to Ashton Gate with a heel injury he picked up in training.
Alex Bruce is unlikely to be back before the Scunthorpe game due to his groin injury, while David Norris is expected to return later in the month and Luciano Civelli won’t be back in contention until at least the end of January.