JASON De Vos may not be able to play his part on the pitch at Nottingham Forest tonight but he hopes to do his bit for Ipswich by convincing promising international winger Jamie Peters to sign for the Blues, writes Derek Davis.

JASON De Vos may not be able to play his part on the pitch at Nottingham Forest tonight but he hopes to do his bit for Ipswich by convincing promising international winger Jamie Peters to sign for the Blues, writes Derek Davis.

De Vos has already had a hand in the arrival of Tony Dinning from Wigan, and now hopes to persuade 17-year-old Peters his future lays at Portman Road.

Towering central defender De Vos is struggling with a knee injury he first picked up against Osasuna and may miss out on the trip to the City Ground, but hopes to be fit in time to play at Derby on Saturday and then go away on World Cup duty with Canada next week.

It is then he plans to have a quiet word with Peters, who has been called into the full international squad by Canada manager Frank Yallop, the ex-Town star.

De Vos said: “I know Jamie by reputation and he is a very exciting prospect. He has been called into the full Canada squad at just 17, which shows his potential. Hopefully between myself and Frank Yallop we will be able to convince him to come to Ipswich.”

Peters played in the Town reserves' 5-0 win at Needham Market on Monday night and was instantly whisked off for a two-day trial at George Burley's Derby County.

Blues boss Joe Royle has offered Peters a contract but he faces a lot of competition.

Manchester City tried to sign Peters last season only for red tape to prevent that happening, but now new rules mean he should not have a problem with permits now.

Millwall and Hearts are also among a raft of clubs keen on signing the winger, who moves in a very similar fashion to David Johnson, but is probably a shade quicker.

De Vos will have a fitness test this morning on an injured knee but he is rated at no better than 50/50 after missing training yesterday.

Jim Magilton has still not recovered fully from a torn quadracep and misses out again. If both miss out then the captain's armband could go to Richard Naylor, who is the club's longest-serving player, even though Fabian Wilnis would return at right-back with Drissa Diallo going into central defence. Experienced Kevin Horlock is also another candidate to skipper the side.

Royle could hand a debut to loanee Tony Dinning, who is looking impress during his two-month spell to earn a permanent contract.

He said: “There is a chance Tony will be involved. He has not played a lot of football of late but he has fitted in well already so we will see.”

Royle has picked out former Town striker David Johnson, who was sold to Forest for £3m and £5m- rated Andy Reid as the dangermen tonight.

He said: “Johnno scored a couple against in the season before last and again last season. He is a pain in the backside against us but it is not too late for him to catch flu.”

While Tottenham are keen on buying Reid, they have yet to stump up the asking price and so he will line-up against Town tonight.

Royle said: “Reid is as good as any midfielder in this division. I don't know if they will sell him or keep him, but Forest will be winners either way.”