Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy says it’s a case of ‘wait and see’ with midfield free agents Jack Collison and Darren Ambrose – both of whom are training at the club.

Welsh international Collison, 25, was released by West Ham at the end of last season and spent part of pre-season at QPR. Former Town, Charlton, Newcastle and Crystal Palace man Ambrose, 30, was released by Birmingham and has trained with both Colchester and Blackpool recently.

Asked about how likely it was that Collison – who played in an Under-21 match at Lowestoft on Tuesday night – would sign, Mccarthy said: “We’ve also got Darren Ambrose in training with us. I’ve said to both of them ‘you’re not on trial’. They both live fairly locally, within half an hour, so I just said you can come in and train and we’ll see what happens.

“Both of them have improved and enhanced training. Sometimes, after one session, you’re going ‘that’s not for me, he’s got to go’, but these two lads have been great.

“We’ll see what happens. They’re both out of contract, they can both sign for any club at any time so we’ll just have a look and see.”

Meanwhile, McCarthy has a clean bill of health for tomorrow’s East Anglian derby with Norwich City at Portman Road (12.15pm), with the exception of long-term absentees Stephen Hunt (calf) and Cameron Stewart (jaw).

Hunt also played for the Under-21s in midweek, with McCarthy saying: “He is looking after the international break. There was never a chance of him playing tomorrow or at Derby next Saturday.

“I’ve just said to him ‘calm down, settle down and make sure you’re ready for the three games in the space of a week’.”

– See tomorrow’s EADT for all the East Anglian derby build-up.