Mick McCarthy is sure Luke Chambers would play through the pain barrier for Ipswich, but is wary of the skipper causing himself more harm.

The 31-year-old cracked a rib in the process of scoring the Blues’ goal at Brighton on Tuesday, and is struggling for today’s clash with Leeds.

“They tell me there is always a way to dampen the pain,” said McCarthy

“But the problem is the muscles around it (the rib), they can start to put a strain on it and they can go into spasm to protect it.”

He added: “Chambo puts his body on the line to play games, he did it on Tuesday. He cracked his rib and played on. He did not pull out of anything, that’s for sure.”

Meanwhile, McCarthy confirmed Town were looking at the home game with Wolves, on March 7, as a possible return date for the injured Jonny Williams.