Town have confirmed that young right-backs Elliott Hewitt and Freddie Veseli have extended their loan spells with Gillingham and Bury respectively. Hewitt, 19, will be with the Gills for the rest of the season, while 21-year-old Veseli will be with the Shakers until February 22nd.
Town boss Mick McCarthy says Hewitt will benefit from getting experience at the Priestfield Stadium: "Elliott’s staying, they were desperate for him to stay. It’s the best thing, I’ve taken Frazer Richardson.
"Elliott, when he’s played, he’s looked OK some days, he’s looked really good at certain things other days, he’s excelled at certain things and looked not so great at others.
"That inconsistency needs to get to be a consistency playing in a team every week for points, not in our U21s. He needs to play in a good league where he’s now playing, and they’ll play him every week. Having him back here is not conducive to his career at all.”
Earlier in the week, the other Town player on loan with Gillingham, striker Jack Marriott, returned to Portman Road before being sent on to his previous loan club Woking in the Skrill Premier.
McCarthy says the decision was down to 19-year-old Marriott’s lack of games with the Gills: "It was an understanding with Peter Taylor that if he didn’t play him [and] there was the opportunity to go back to Woking, where he was much loved and revered by everybody and was scoring goals. It was a success for him.
"He just didn’t get enough football. He went on against Brentford, he got a little 10-minute cameo and the keeper had to make a good save from him, he had a shot that was blocked, it was going on target.
"I can’t ever ask somebody to guarantee me that they’ll play them, but he couldn’t guarantee him time on the pitch at all, so I thought it was better [to recall him]. And Jack wanted to come back and go to Woking.”
Gillingham face Port Vale at the Priestfield Stadium on Saturday, while Bury are scheduled to take on Wycombe Wanderers at home and Woking welcome Forest Green Rovers to the Kingfield Stadium.