Teddy Bishop is backing Town to cope with the loss of fellow midfielder Jon Nolan as he serves a three-game ban following his late red card in the 1-0 defeat at new League One leaders Lincoln on Saturday.
Nolan is ruled out of tomorrow night’s home clash with Gillingham, the visit of Crewe on Saturday and the trip to face fellow promotion hopefuls Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday of next week.
Emyr Huws is the obvious candidate to plug the gap and slot in alongside Bishop and Andre Dozzell in the middle of the park, with Brett McGavin another candidate to have some match action in Nolan’s absence.
Bishop said: "Nolo had a very good start to the season, so we’ll miss him a lot. But at the same time, with a quality player like Emyr Huws to come in, hopefully it won’t weaken us too much and we’ll do the best we can.
"If it’s me, Andre and Emyr I think that’s a good engine room. We are all capable of doing it because we all get up and down and we’ve all got a lot of running in our legs.
"Brett is available as well and I really like him. I know he’s highly regarded here — they really like him, he’s a really good player, so maybe he’ll get a chance.
"He definitely should get that chance at some stage this season. He did well when he got his debut last season and went on to play other games. He’s very good and there are others under him who are good as well.
"And don’t forget Cole Skuse. I know he’s injured at the moment but we look forward to him being fully fit again.
"Actually, I can see similarities between Brett and Cole, and it’s a comparison I’ve heard a few times before. They are quite similar in the quality they have and the way they play.
"Hopefully it won’t be too long before Cole is back as well. We miss him and on a personal note I have loved playing alongside him since I came into the first team.
"He doesn’t just bring quality on to the pitch, he’s also very vocal and he’s a leader, like Chambo is. He has been missed and we’ll certainly welcome him back when he’s fit again.”
Town have suffered with injuries to many players so far this season, as well as the continued absence of Kane Vincent-Young, who has not been involved with the first team in exactly a year, the 3-1 win at Southend to be precise.
Bishop knows a fair bit about being sidelined, of course, and added: "We miss all the injured guys and feel for them. Flynn [Downes] is out and I’m gutted for him, although knowing the character he is he’ll be back in no time and when he does he’ll be flying. Also, Tristan [Nydam] is nearly back, which will be another big boost for us.”
Saturday’s narrow 1-0 reverse at Lincoln represented only Bishop’s second 90 minutes of the season so far and just the sixth of his senior career, but he pointed out: "I’ve been capable of a full 90 minutes in the past, it’s just that when you haven’t played a lot of games the risk factor of picking up an injury in the last 10 or 15 minutes is that much greater because the body hasn’t had a chance to get accustomed to it.
"It’s not been down to the fact that I’ve been unable to do it, but people looking after me and making sure that I’m ready for the next game. I’ve had the two complete 90 minutes this season and I’ve felt good towards the end of each of them. It’s a big step for me and it needs to continue throughout the rest of the season.”
Bishop also collected a rare yellow card late on at Sincil Bank following Nolan’s dismissal and he added: "I don’t get many but it was just heat of the moment stuff, handbags, a bit of pushing and shoving, nothing really.”
One thing Town will hope is that they are able to create more scoring chances tomorrow against a 14th-placed Gillingham side coming to Portman Road on the back of three 2-0 league defeats on the bounce and no goals scored in any of them.
"It’s a big week for us with two home games, followed by Sunderland away next Tuesday, and we’ll be looking for some goals and good results,” said Bishop.
"Teams will obviously look at the way we have been playing and Lincoln were a bit cautious, sitting off and trying to catch us on the break, which I thought they did well. We remained patient and tried to play but they made it really tough for us.
"It was a frustrating game for us. I felt I was fouled twice in the build-up to the penalty that decided it. Okay, with the second one he did get the ball, but he went through me to get it and you can’t do that in modern-day football.
"It was definitely a foul and I felt it, which is why I stayed down for about 30 seconds or so. It was really disappointing, the result, and that decision ultimately cost us because of what happened immediately afterwards.
"I haven’t seen a replay of the penalty incident. We watch individual clips, so I’ve watched my game again and seen where I can improve, but I haven’t seen the entire game.”