Town boss Joe Royle says that the Blues will try to tie-up a deal to sign central defender Jerome Sobers from Ryman League side Ford United in the next 48 hours. Sobers, 17, has been on trial with at Portman Road and played for the reserves at Arsenal on Tuesday night.
Royle said: "We are pleased with Jerome Sobers and we are going to try to sort something out with his club in the next 48 hours. He's still academy age, despite his size, and he did well at Arsenal in the reserves earlier in the week.
"One of the scouts mentioned him to academy coach Ian Smith and he went to see him. It's more of a an academy thing, although when I've seen him in training and playing he did well and ultimately it's my decision. The academy people are very positive about him.”
Royle says that there is no chance of former Austria international Gilbert Prilasnig joining the club although he is currently with the first team squad: "He's training with us but he's not a trialist.
"He's a friend of Martijn Reuser and Fabian Wilnis and has got a good pedigree, but I told him last week there would be nothing more for him here.”
The Town manager also played down a recent report claiming Town's North-West scout Colin Harvey, a team-mate of Royle at Everton, had watched Unibond Premier League side Radcliffe Borough's Davey Luker in action: "Colin Harvey was at Radcliffe Borough against Frickley watching one of the Frickley players and not one of the Radcliffe players.
"Radcliffe Borough is owned by Bernard Manning Jnr, who is never short of a headline, and he put it in the local paper that we were watching their centre-half!”