Boss Jim Magilton says Jason De Vos's operation give the club captain a chance of being fit in time for pre-season training. The Canadian will miss the rest of the season as he is set to undergo foot surgery.

Magilton told the club site: "Jason has being playing in pain for a while and it's important that he now has the surgery.

"The date has been booked for the operation and hopefully it will enable the skipper to be back with us for the start of pre-season training.

"We want to hit the ground running next year and it's important that we have a fully fit squad reporting for duty when we come back in June."

Physio Matt Byard outlined De Vos's problem: "Jason has a stress fracture of the third metatarsal and the operation is needed to enable the fracture heal.

"The surgery will make sure the problem does not reoccur and, although you can never be sure of recovery times before seeing how the surgery goes, he has a chance of being back for the start of pre-season."

TWTD understands that the Blues players will begin their pre-season preparations earlier than ever before on June 12th.

Get the fastest and most comprehensive Ipswich Town news service at ipswichtown.footballlatest.co.uk.

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls