Kane Vincent-Young is closing in on his Ipswich Town return, with manager Paul Lambert not ruling out being able to call on the defender at Blackpool next weekend.
The former Colchester man has been sidelined since the end of October after undergoing the second of two operations on a groin problem, but has been back training this week.
He's yet to join in with the rest of the first-team but Lambert insisted the 23-year-old is progressing well and could even make his return at Blackpool when the Blues travel to Bloomfield Road next Saturday.
"He's doing great and he's not too far away now," Lambert said. "We'll see how he does today and then for the rest of week and then we'll judge him from there.
"He's doing really, really well. The lad might put himself forward really quickly but you can't expect him to start back the way he was playing for us because he's been out for a few months.
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"But fitness-wise he's getting there.
"He's out on the grass doing work out there but he's not with us at the moment so we'll see how he is next week."
When asked specifically about the visit to Blackpool, Lambert said.
"I'll have a chat with him and see how he feels he is. At this moment he says he's feeling in a good place."
On Danny Rowe, who hasn't played since the beginning of December with a knee injury, Lambert said: "He's doing really well as well but he's maybe a couple of weeks behind Kane at the moment."
Lambert was pleased with the way Luke Garbutt came through his return from a thigh problem during last weekend's win over Burton and is similarly pleased to have Teddy Bishop available once again.
"He's doing really well, Luke," Lambert said. "I knew he would be a bit ring-rusty but I think in the second half he did really well. It's great having him back because he's been really good for us."
"When Bishop comes on he gives you something different but the secret to Bish is being fit. If he does that he has a really big career in front of him.
"He's trained all week and that's a massive plus for us."
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