James Wilson and Toto Nsiala aren’t too far away from a return from injury, while Oli Hawkins is making progress following his knee surgery, and manager Paul Lambert says his squad has suffered no new injuries in the wake of Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Peterborough.

Asked whether everyone was fit and well after the London Road trip at this morning’s press conference, during which the media were told he would only answer questions about Saturday’s match at Shrewsbury, he said: “Yes, it was a hard game, physically it was a tough game. I think the game could have gone either way.

“But everybody seems not too bad, so we’ll see how we are again this morning and we go there, and as I’ve said before, we play Saturday-Tuesday for quite a little bit here. We’ll see how everybody is.”

Jon Nolan has missed the last three games having previously been involved having got over his calf injury but Lambert says there’s no new issue for the midfielder.

“He’s fine, listen I’ve got 20-odd guys to think of, he’s fine, everybody’s ready to play, we try and pick a team which can win on Saturday,” he said.

Nsiala suffered a hamstring problem in training ahead of the Sunderland game at the end of last month but is making progress, Lambert says.

“He just came back yesterday, he trained with us yesterday in a small game,” he said. “He’s doing alright, he’s another with a hamstring problem but he’s doing alright. This one might be a little bit early for him.”

James Wilson has been out since October with a knee injury, but is also now back training although similarly won’t be ready for Saturday.

“He’s started training with us as well in the last few days,” the Blues manager continued. “I think James maybe needs a game somewhere and we’ll see how he is. But he’s doing alright. We’ve got to remember those guys have been out for a long time.”

Regarding striker Oli Hawkins, who recently underwent a knee operation, he added: “Yes, he’s doing well. He’s coming on nicely, Oli. He’s doing OK.”

Another striker, Kayden Jackson, is available again having served his three-match ban for his red card against Sunderland.

Quizzed on how much impact the weather has had on training this week, Lambert had praise for the club’s ground staff.

“I’ve got to say the groundsmen have been brilliant,” he said. “I know they’re probably understaffed but they all put a shift in to clear that snow for us. We’ve got half a pitch which is OK, at least there’s a bit of grass there that we can train on.

“But the groundsman guys, I had a chat with them yesterday and thanked them for their work because they’ve done brilliant for us.”

He says with games coming thick and fast training has been kept light: “It’s only rest and recovery, you can’t really do much because of it. You can only do little bits here and there.

“And that’s why it’s important to use everybody because we’re going to need everybody. There’s a long, long way to go.

“We’re in the mix to get in the play-offs, that’s for sure and if we can go and do what we’ve done against Blackpool and others, then let’s see what happens.”

Photo: TWTD

Bergholt_Blue added 09:54 - Feb 12 Oh great Toto is back
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MrJase_79 added 09:56 - Feb 12 "Long, long way to go" - Same crap we heard from Lambert this time last year when we were in exactly the same position. The fact that fans can't go to stadiums is playing a massive part in how deluded this idiot is.
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dyersdream added 09:58 - Feb 12 oh god toto back worst centre half in the squad liability
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Belgiumblue added 10:03 - Feb 12 Glad to see Wilson on his way back, Part of our full from grace after the opening 9 games was he was injured. Then it all fell apart, Wolf and Wilson our best centreback pairing me thinks
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trncbluearmy added 10:16 - Feb 12 Deep joy, to be fair Wilson is ok
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Ipswichbusiness added 10:16 - Feb 12 I'm pleased for the players that they are making progress back to fitness. Unfortunately, the centre-back positions aren't the problem, management is.
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BettyBlue added 10:31 - Feb 12 Living in his own dream world. Thinks he's Pep Guadiola
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grow_our_own added 10:39 - Feb 12 Great to have Wilson back, he should start in place of McGuiness when fully fit. McGuinness was arguably at fault for both goals on Tuesday. 1. Misjudged flight of a high looping ball and missed header 2. Jumped into posh player when he had no chance of winning header. They scored from free-kick. McG has been at fault for prob half a dozen goals now. I'd take Wilson's consistent 7/10 performances over McG's 8/10 followed by 4/10s. There are very few decent 19 year old centre-backs, and we've been paying through the nose for his education this season. Woolfenden has been excellent in the last two games, looks back to his best and it's no coincidence that our best results this season have come with Wilson at the back.

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dieselmorris added 10:59 - Feb 12 read lamberts cryptic message time is catching up with chambers, they can't go on forever does this mean this is his last season.been a good servant to this club in difficult times.
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grow_our_own added 11:11 - Feb 12 "We've got half a pitch which is OK, at least there's a bit of grass there that we can train on." - we train on the pitch when it's in this state!? No wonder it's so bad. The usual fantastic football operations at ITFC. Is it any wonder our best results the past two seasons have come in Aug-Oct, before the pitch becomes like a wet Glastonbury.
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Len_Brennan added 13:28 - Feb 12 I like Wilson & think he has been a smart free transfer acquisition. There is a solid argument to make for him being the best centre half (when fit) at the club at this time & like others above, I think Wilson & Woolfenden would be a decent partnership (complimenting each other's game) in this league if they got a run of games together. I just wonder though, are we falling into the trap of making him a better & better player in our minds, with every additional game that goes by, during a slump in form & noticable defensive errors? Will his return make that much of a difference to us really?

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budgieplucker added 20:56 - Feb 12 @Len Brennan, whilst I wouldn't necessarily rate Wilson a top defender in this league I would agree that he is been a very good signing. He is our most consistent defender, knows his limitations and if in doubt has a good heavy pass on him to row z in the stand. Big Al (style). He would be a regular in my starting line up until I could recruit better. I am inclined to think like you he might not make much of a difference but we have to defend more as a team rather than hold the centre half's accountable for everything - we worked our nuts off against Sunderland with ten men and showed with the right focus we have the attributes of being a team hard to beat, however, without taking risks going forward we are not going to win games.

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ringwoodblue added 21:59 - Feb 12 Wilson and Woolfie is the best central defence we have imho so hope James is back soon. Although Toto can be good at times, he makes too many costly errors I'm afraid.
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