Midfielder Lee Bowyer will miss his old side West Ham’s visit to Portman Road on Tuesday due to the groin injury he suffered in the home game against Nottingham Forest, while new signing Ryan Stevenson is unlikely to be involved. Bowyer, 35, was the scorer of the winning goal when the Blues won 1-0 at Upton Park earlier in the season.
Manager Paul Jewell said: "Lee’s not fit. He’s making progress but he’s got a bit of scar tissue on his abductor and it’s causing him a bit of discomfort.”
Stevenson, who formalised an 18-month contract which includes options for further seasons earlier today, isn’t considered quite ready to play after his dispute with Hearts over unpaid wages saw him miss more than a month's training and matches.
Jewell says Town's new number 16 shirt shouldn’t be too far away from making a debut, however: "He hasn’t trained with [Hearts] since 17th December, so I don’t think his fitness is going to be quite up to speed, but in his couple of days in training he’s looked like he’s a fit lad anyway, so hopefully he won’t be too long in catching up.”
That said, the Blues manager wasn’t entirely ruling out his involvement, perhaps hinting that the 27-year-old Scot might be amongst the subs: "We’ll see how things go tomorrow.”
Keeper Alex McCarthy is banned for one match for his red card at Leeds with Jewell confirming that Arran Lee-Barrett will start with Richard Wright on the bench.