JASON Scotland will sit out the trip to Watford after struggling to overcome the abductor problem that ruled him out of Wednesday’s win over Burnley.

The striker, still two starts away from a new contract, will join in-form Grant Leadbitter on the sidelines with the midfielder banned for one match after his late sending off against the Clarets.

Ipswich manager Paul Jewell revealed today that he had already told his players the team for tomorrow’s match at Vicarage Road as Town look to end their Hornets hoodoo – a run stretching 14 games and eight years.

Jewell explained: “The players know the team for tomorrow, we have worked on it this morning. It wasn’t an easy decision as a lot of players have made good cases. But I have picked the team.

“Jason trained on Tuesday and said he felt a slight tweak in his abductor, nothing serious. But it tightened up on Wednesday afternoon when he was at home. We are disappointed to miss Jason because he gives us an option off the bench.”

One option the Blues boss won’t be considering is bringing Nathan Ellington back from the cold with the striker suffering a calf injury.

With another match at Portman Road on Tuesday night, the rearranged encounter with Tony Mowbray’s Middlesbrough, Jewell has hinted that he might be forced into the odd change to combat tiredness.

He said: “We have got three games, including Burnley, in six days so it is a punishing schedule. Defenders do a little less work, leg-wise, than anyone else in the team, because that is the nature of the game.

“But certainly the midfield and forward players put in a lot of effort so we will rotate the odd one here or there. I don’t like making wholesale changes – I think everyone knows that.

“But I think we were right to leave Lee Martin out at Hull on a heavy pitch because he put in an unbelievable shift of late. And he came on the pitch with renewed vigour.

“We were correct to leave Andy Drury out, he had hit a bit of a flat spot and he might be better for that rest, we will have to wait and see.”

Drury, Luke Hyam and Ryan Stevenson are all in the running to replace Leadbitter and partner Lee Bowyer in the Town midfield.