Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy will run the rule over a number of the Blues’ young prospects, against League of Ireland Premier League side, Drogheda United, on Saturday.
Flynn Downes, George Fowler, Adam McDonnell, Tristan Nydam and Pat Webber have all made the trip to Ireland, the Blues staying at Carton House Hotel, which is McCarthy’s go-to venue with his team during the summer.
Brentwood-born midfielder Downes, an academy scholar, agreed to stay at Portman Road for another year in May and was on the bench for the first time in Town’s 3-0, final day, defeat at Nottingham Forest last season.
Defenders Webber and Fowler, along with midfielder Nydam, were all unused subs for the senior team last term, whilst McDonnell, signed as a highly-rated prospect from Shelbourne in 2014, has made onoe league start, at Derby, on the final day of the 2015-16 season.
McCarthy knows he has a responsibility to try and get the club’s youngsters established in the first team, given Town’s modest approach to spending in the transfer market.“There is a core of good young players. We have to try and get them through because we are not going to go out and spend 10 million on somebody,” he said last August.
Another player who will be looking to catch the manager’s eye is former Newcastle United defender, Steven Taylor, who has been training with the Blues since the start of pre-season.
Taylor’s short stay at Portman Road last season was hit by injury, but the defender’s pedigree and brief appearances for the Blues have seen McCarthy invite the 31-year-old back on a trial basis.
Taylor is in Ireland with new signings Jordan Spence, Joe Garner, Tom Adeyemi and Bersant Celina – Blues boss McCarthy expected to give all his squad a run out on Saturday. Emyr Huws has been given an extended break due to his international commitments with Wales.
Meanwhile, Doncaster Rovers striker John Marquis, who scored 26 goals last season as the South Yorkshire side won promotion to League One, has turned down a new deal at the club.
Ipswich have been linked with a move for the former Millwall striker, as have Wigan, although Rovers manager Darren Ferguson has said there have been no enquiries.
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