Midfielders Luke Hyam and Giles Coke are the only players unavailable for Saturday’s Championship opener at home to Barnsley.

Hyam suffered a knee problem in the friendly at Cambridge, while Coke underwent knee surgery at the end of last season.

“The squad’s in good shape we’ve only had Giles Coke and Luke Hyam, who got the knock at Cambridge but he’s improving rapidly,” manager Mick McCarthy said.

“Giles, of course, had an operation and we’re hoping he’ll be fit before the window shuts.”

McCarthy says keeper Dean Gerken (hamstring) and striker Brett Pitman (toe) are both OK.

“They’ve both trained today, they’ve been fine,” he added. “We’ve got a fit, healthy squad, which is great having just completed a five or six-week pre-season.

“It’s nice to be in a position, it’s sad for Luke Hyam and Giles Coke, of course, but we’ve got a good squad fit.”

Striker David McGoldrick missed the first few pre-season friendlies due to a hip flexor injury and may only be considered for the bench on Saturday, although McCarthy was typically keeping his cards close to his chest regarding his team.

New signing Grant Ward is also short on games having had an injury in pre-season and also may not be ready to start on Saturday.

McCarthy confirmed that centre-half Adam Webster is fit enough to start having missed the early part of pre-season while he recovered from an ankle injury he picked up at the end of last season while with Portsmouth.

Photo: Action Images

12th_Man added 13:53 - Aug 4 Coke on transfer list with Stewart and Polish Pete
1

jas0999 added 13:57 - Aug 4 Giles Coke won't be missed. Hyam is a shame, but we already have Skuse (presumably) playing so for a home game there is no need for two defense minded central players. Douglas can cover in an absolute emergency.
1

bluefeast added 14:05 - Aug 4 Its going to be interesting how we get on over the first 6 games. On paper for different reasons they are a challenge. I suspect Barnsley game will be 1 1 tight bore draw. Its erally down to the side MM picks ,go for the win or try not to lose ,mentally those two instructions are miles apart. Lets hope we go all out to win.
-3

Radlett_blue added 14:48 - Aug 4 Mick hopes Coke will be fit before the window closes or else we'll be stuck with him for a few more months.
1

brian_a_mul added 15:42 - Aug 4 New teams, new managers, new players, active transfer windows, new tactics/ styles etc. The first few weeks are always a bit of an unknown for all teams and I wouldn't read too much into any results during this time.
1

Blogs 297 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls