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Gerken Fit But Coke Misses Out - Ipswich Town News

Keeper Dean Gerken is fine to return to the squad for Saturday’s home game against Bristol City but midfielder Giles Coke will miss out, manager Mick McCarthy has revealed.

Gerken, a former Robins player, suffered a groin injury when he took a kick from Clayton Donaldson when clearing ahead of the Birmingham striker during last Friday’s 1-1 draw at Portman Road and wasn’t in the 18 at Manchester United on Wednesday, but McCarthy says he is now fully fit.

"Dean’s fine, he just stayed back, he had to deal with that back pass last week and he got a kick on his knee, I think, but his groin was sore,” he said.

"But Bart was always playing at Manchester United anyway. He’s fine, he trained brilliantly today.

"Everyone else is fine, except for Giles Coke who, sadly for him, because I thought he did well on Wednesday night along with everybody else, has just got a sore achilles from the game, so he’ll be missing from the squad tomorrow.”

McCarthy says the Blues are being careful with Teddy Bishop who is says is still a while away from a return after suffering from hamstring and shin splint problems in the last couple of months.

"We’ll make sure he’s fit when he comes back,” he added. "We’re just giving him a longer rehab than necessary but hopefully it’ll prove to be the right thing to do come the rest of the season.

"We’ve got a lot of games to play and it would be nice to have him fully back. We’ve got Luke Hyam probably coming back in November, it might be the end of November.

"And we’ve got Luke Varney. not our player but we’ll discuss that, so we might have some fresh legs coming back and they’ll be great players along with Bish if that was the case.”

Hyam underwent knee surgery in the summer, while former loanee Varney, who is now a free agent but undergoing his rehab with the Blues, ruptured an achilles during the play-offs at the end of last season.

Town are staging a promotion at Saturday’s game with season ticket holders able to buy a further four tickets for £10 for adults, £8 for concessions and £3 for juniors.

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