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Brentford on Balkestein Move - Ipswich Town News

Brentford boss Andy Scott says he made his bid to take Town defender Pim Balkestein on a permanent basis after the Blues turned down an offer to take the Dutchman on loan. Town and the Bees are still negotiating a potential deal for the former Heerenveen man.

Scott said: "We knew Tommy Smith had gone back and was on the bench while Pim wasn’t involved.

"We asked the question about his availability and they weren’t keen to ship him out on loan, so we made an enquiry about what the situation was with him.

"We’re monitoring that and we’re looking to next year as well to bring good players in and he fits the bill.

"Clearly financially it has got to fit in with the budget for next year and the wage structure we’ve got.”

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s opponents Plymouth look unlikely to be able to field full-back Richard Eckersley (ankle) and central defender Kari Arnason (hip) against the Blues after sustaining injuries in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Scunthorpe.

Town report nothing more than the usual post-game bruises with left-back Shane O’Connor expected to be fine despite being amongst those picking up minor knocks.

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