Ipswich Town boss Paul Cook is expecting ‘a couple of lads’ to make their debuts when the Blues face Bolton this weekend, but revealed wingers Kyle Edwards and Bersant Celina won’t be involved.
Cook’s men return to action following a two-week break, which has allowed a number of Town’s injured players to return to fitness.
Macauley Bonne is likely to return after missing the Wimbledon game while Conor Chaplin is also back in training, having not played for Ipswich since the opening-day draw with Morecambe.
But the break could also mean George Edmundson is ready to make his Ipswich bow, having missed out so far with a hamstring injury since arriving from Rangers at the end of July, while new goalkeeper Christian Walton could potentially come into the side in place of Vaclav Hladky.
Edwards is absent with a knock, though, while Celina is not yet ready to make his second Ipswich debut having missed much of the summer due to complications with Covid. Sam Morsy is suspended, meaning Lee Evans will captain the side once again.
“Kyle Edwards won’t be out for a long time, that’s all I can say,” Cook said, when asked about the severity of Edwards’ problem.
“We’ve picked the team, they’re working very hard. We’ve had George Edmundson training with us, we’ve had Conor Chaplin training with us, Macauley Bonne’s had a training week and Christian Walton is obviously here.
“We’re looking strong. The last two weeks, the lads have worked extremely hard on the training ground and the likelihood is we’re going to have a couple of lads on the pitch making their home debuts, which is great for our supporters.
“That does show you still the changes that are coming. We’re not looking for excuses, I’m not that type of manager and never will be, but the reality is we’re going to take a little bit of time to get up to speed.”
The Town boss continued: "The reality is by the time we probably go to Accrington away (October 2) I would imagine we will see Morsy back from suspension, Celina in the squad and one or two others all returning.
“That’s a game we’ve targeted really to have the squad 100% for sure. Before that we have big games with Bolton, Lincoln and Sheffield Wednesday. We want to win games.”
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Cook also confirmed Morsy, who is banned for three League One games following a red card on his final Middlesbrough appearance, will make his Ipswich debut in the EFL Trophy clash with West Ham’s Under 21s on Tuesday night.
“We’ll have a strong team out on Tuesday,” Cook said.
“It’s a competition that we can do well in. Why can’t we go to Wembley? Sunderland and Portsmouth fans travelled in big numbers. What a do out that would be.
“We have to start winning.”
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