Interim boss John McGreal says striker James Norwood has trained with the first team this morning and is available for selection ahead of Saturday’s trip to Wigan Athletic.

Norwood has been training with the U23s - and has scored in each of the last two games - and has been transfer-listed ahead of the January window.

The 31-year-old intimated in a tweet that that decision wasn’t made by former boss Paul Cook, however, speaking to TWTD on Monday, CEO Mark Ashton said that whether Norwood was selected was down to the manager.

Asked whether he’s able to play Norwood at his lunchtime press conference, McGreal said: “Of course I can. He’s come back in, he’s trained with the guys this morning, he’s been excellent, he needed minutes in the U23s.

“He’s a personality around the club at the moment, so he’s there, if we need him, to be called upon.”

The Liverpudlian says he knows Norwood well from facing him in League Two: “I know a lot about Nors. When I was at Colchester he scored a couple of goals against me at Colchester, so I know a lot of his strengths, I know a lot of his personality as well.

“We’ve passed each other over the years, not that I’ve got a relationship with Nors but I know of him and it just seems a professional that tries hard on the pitch.

“That’s all know of, he tries hard on the pitch, on the training pitch, I don’t know him off the pitch as such. I can only judge what he does on the pitch and the training pitch.”

Norwood is a big character and McGreal said character is something the team needs to show following the disappointing defeat at Charlton on Tuesday.

“It is,” he said. “Each and every individual’s got a personality. It’s a different personality to the next man.

“ I actually said to the guys the other night, ‘You’ve all been on the floor before, to get yourselves back up again, to play for Ipswich, you must have done something right or you must have dragged something from within yourself to be be a better player, so you know what? You’ve got to do that again. And it’s easy because you know you’ve done it before, so let’s go again’.

“It’s all positivity if we can, getting into the boys and bringing that inner belief again, and it will come. You don’t turn into a bad player overnight, so the more we can get into them the more we can train, the better they’ll become.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Marinersnose added 15:55 - Dec 9 So demolition man got rid of most of our squad and now we're are pining our hopes on one of the remaining players getting us out of the mire. Norwood is an excellent league one striker but he's got to maintain his fitness . That's his responsibility. He's probably still the best we've got, Piggott also deserves a chance. Midfield needs changing as Morsey and Evans have been poor.

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Linkboy13 added 16:10 - Dec 9 Find this story a bit baffling. Norwood stated that he had no issues with Paul Cook and that it was the owners who sacked him. John Mcgreal takes over and he's back in the first team squad. Don't know if some people on here have been on Mars for the last year or so but Norwood's hardly ever been fit for more than one game. Might be handy on the bench (that's not in court) as an impact player. Expect some mystery injury over the Christmas period tripped over a crate of lager or something.

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chepstowblue added 16:11 - Dec 9 Shropshire. I only voted down because of your inclusion of Woolfenden, who is nothing other than appalling. That could be labelled of many right now, but none have quite hit the depths of Woolfie, who seems to suffer from sleep apnoea on the pitch. Docile and never switched on. Morsy really needs to up his game, Charlton waltzed passed him all evening, and his game seems to lack the drive and dynamism that his reputation suggested he had. Other than Walton there are 10 places up for grabs, nobody currently worthy of a nailed down pick.

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blues1 added 16:13 - Dec 9 Tractorboybig. So uve never done anything wrong in ur life? And u still working at ur job? Who gives a damn whats happened off the pitch? Hardly the 1st player to do so at our club. And I'm not condoning his behaviour but surely everyone deserves the chance to put things right? Do u not think that his mental health has-been affected with all thr injuries he's had since signing here? And thr fact his gf left him soon after signing? Having fans slagging him off on social media? Doesn't totally excuse his behaviour but give the guy a break. He's still got a lot to offer the team. Gives us sinething our other strikers don't. And sorry but we hit the bottom of the barrel on Tuesday night when so called supporters disgraced themselves at charlton.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:22 - Dec 9 Moral issues aside, Norwood plus A.N. Other up front would surely give the opposition something to think about. Again, off-the-field issues aside, perhaps we need an injection of a Mr Aggravation as we are just a bit too nice at the moment. I'm sure Norwood can provide.
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runningout added 16:40 - Dec 9 personally I feel totally let down and have lost some interest in my once fantastic club. It's got worse over the last 5 years. I realise we are not the only club to go through cr*p. It's like a family crisis right now for a lot of us
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Old_Blu added 16:44 - Dec 9 While he is still at the club he should be available to play, if the manager decides to play him. There is no shortage of effort when he plays and he is a fiery character, which may inspire others around him to increase their enthusiasm. If he is in the shop window for January, then a good display would suit him as well as us. I would be happy to see him start, or on the bench against Wigan.

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Len_Brennan added 17:16 - Dec 9 I'd drop Bonne/give him a rest for this game & hope it would do him good; he's just not got that sharpness about him at the moment, but a lot of expectation on his shoulders. Play Pigott from the start, give him a chance & throw Chaplin up front alongside but playing off him. I'd expect both to score. Then spring Norwood from the bench in the second half to complete the rout, adding to Aluko's brace.

1

therein61 added 17:22 - Dec 9 Good move J.M i have commented on Norwoods off field behaviour(which is not great) but always acknowledged his goal scoring prowess his inclusion will maybe shake up a couple who thought they were shoe ins, get in there big man and bang some in it's not too late to get back in the side and help us get promotion and stay with us(if that is what you really want)
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PortmanTerrorist added 18:06 - Dec 9 Bonne and Nors (at 10) would drive defenders nuts, would give us a long ball option, and probably keep us further up the pitch. For a period on Tues I timed Charlton and on average it took them 10 seconds to get to our Box......we barely got near theirs all game BUT had similar passing stats. Think we need to accept this is League 1 and we are NOT Barcelona. Nors is not the answer but perhaps part of a solution.

3

gosblue added 18:06 - Dec 9 We need two additional strikers in January. One of those could be Norwood. I'd say he's got a month's trial to prove his fitness and attitude otherwise it's off to Colchester United. Problem is, if he gets injured we can't sell him.
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dirtydingusmagee added 18:32 - Dec 9 gosblue. your last line is the stand out point. How many games will we get out of him ? I doubt it will be many, it hasnt happened so far.
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blueboy1981 added 18:55 - Dec 9 Anything less than an impressive performance against Wigan could easily trigger a downward spiral. Richardson will be out to put the boot in, after the Club has sacked his previous colleague and friend. They will be out to do us big time - shrink away like wimps as they did at Charlton, and an annihilation could well be on the cards. Time to step up Captain Morsy and lead your troops - but I suspect you've already made your mind up to leave the fold.

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blueboy1981 added 19:00 - Dec 9 Norwood is liked by more people at the Club than not. A Club has to fo their best to uphold player behaviour both in and outside the Club - but outside of such it's under another jurisdiction. Most Clubs have a Wild Card player, Norwood is ours. Don't forget - we've had them before …. !!!
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Tripswich added 19:11 - Dec 9 For all his faults and the drama that seems to follow him around, I like Nors... however—and I realise people love to rally behind the underdog—was I watching a different player over the past few years? The only reason he's getting a game now is to 'put him in the shop window' I reckon. Lots of Town fans on here are talking like they think he'll come and change the direction at the club... Norwood isn't the answer to any of our problems. Something toxic is still going on behind the scenes and it's far bigger than any one player. Norwood never quite got going here, certainly compared to his time at Tranmere and that's the best I can say really. I wish him all the best when he inevitably leaves in January. And I'll get behind him while I'm eating my hat if the decision is that he's staying.

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ringwoodblue added 19:14 - Dec 9 Not ideal but needs must given the predicament we find ourselves in. Think he will add a competitive edge against Wigan
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ITFC_Singapore added 19:14 - Dec 9 Norwood in for Bonne would be a very positive move.
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LimerickTractorBoy added 19:22 - Dec 9 Lads we have to give him a chance, he's had his issues but we need an X factor and Nors could be it. How many players bought the club into disrepute on Tues? Nearly drove half of us over the edge. We effin need something/someone to shake us into life.
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Nobbysnuts added 19:24 - Dec 9 Give Norwood a break. Yes he's made mistakes but there is a decent player in there. Too many hypocritics on here...remember dozzell the shamed drug driver that everyone still seems to love. For me dozzell should of been sacked from the club immediately for his disgusting conviction. I'm behind you James 100%
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itfchorry added 19:36 - Dec 9 About Time -
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Saxonblue74 added 19:57 - Dec 9 This just goes to show how much we, as fans, know about what goes on at our club. The amount of questions raised by the Norwood scenario is utterly baffling!
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jas0999 added 20:34 - Dec 9 Bonne hasn't performed for weeks. Norwood will give his all.
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austractor added 00:25 - Dec 11 He is different to Bonne and Piggott who are a mismatched pair if you want to play two up top. Nors only contribution this year was heading on for Bonne to equalise in game 1 with his first touch, and has been frozen out since. His omission is yet another indicator of cooks stubbornness and preference for square pegs in round holes.
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