De Vos prepared to play despite pain

By Derek Davis

Chief Sports Writer

JASON De Vos is prepared to play against Cardiff on Saturday even though a scan has revealed he has a fracture to a tibia.

The Canadian international captain is hoping to fly back today to discuss the injury to his non-weight-bearing bone in lower leg with Ipswich Town medical staff and, in the unlikely event that he is given the go-ahead, would be in the centre of defence against the Bluebirds.

Speaking exclusively to the EADT from the Canada team hotel in Vancouver, De Vos defiantly said: "I have played three games with the injury now and if the medical staff say it would not do any further damage then I would play against Cardiff."

It is more likely he will be told to rest the injury which he originally picked up in the latter stages of the 2-1 friendly win over Osasuna.

He played through the pain against Gillingham, Nottingham Forest and Derby County and although he is prepared to go again it is more probable that he will be out for up to three weeks.

De Vos said: "The worst possible scenario is that I'm not allowed to play but even then I would be out for days or weeks rather than months."

The injury was spotted when De Vos flew to Vancouver for Canada's World Cup qualifying match against Guatemala – even before he went out to train.

He said: "I have not seen a ball or trained at all out here, or done anything physical since we played against Derby. I reported that I had been in pain and just for peace of mind asked for a scan.

"At Ipswich I didn't have an X-ray or anything as we all thought it was just bruising in the bone, and the Canadian physio felt the same, but we went to the hospital anyway.

"The X-ray revealed nothing but the later, more thorough bone scan showed quite clearly there was a hairline crack on the tibia, which is the non-weight-bearing bone just under the knee."

The imposing figure of De Vos has gone down well in the Blues defence and, in the absence of Jim Magilton, he has skippered the side in all three league games of the season.

A free signing from Wigan after he fell out of contract, De Vos has settled into the side well and will be missed, but he is sure Town will be determined to get back to winning ways – with or without him.

He said: "We know we didn't play well on Saturday and, even though I have not seen the lads since that game, I know every one of us is determined to show we are a good team.

"The best thing to do after a result and performance like that is to play another game and put things right."

Magilton does not appear to have suffered any reaction to his thigh injury after training with the first team squad yesterday and will be assessed again tomorrow and Friday before a decision on whether he will return to the side is made.