Central defender Ibrahima Sonko is in line to return for the Blues when bogey side Watford visit Portman Road on Saturday. The Senegalese international has trained for a week after recovering from his recent hamstring injury and was on the bench at Burnley on Tuesday.

Manager Paul Jewell says the 30-year-old could be back against the Hornets, who Town have failed to beat in their last 13 meetings: “He hasn’t done a lot of training as everyone knows. Since he had his latest hamstring injury at Millwall he’s had a good week’s training under his belt and he will come into contention.

“The goals we’re conceding are a major concern for us. You obviously aren’t going to win matches conceding three goals and we’ve conceded threes, fours, fives and sevens this season.

“It’s been a major concern for us but I felt when Danny Collins and Sonks were playing well we were getting results and he’s been missed.”

The Blues boss revealed that his decision to substitute Daryl Murphy just before the break at Turf Moor wasn’t due to injury: “That was tactical. He had a bit of a tight hamstring because he hadn’t played for a while and he played on the Saturday. It was a bit tight but that was tactical. He will be in contention on Saturday.”

He confirmed that skipper Grant Leadbitter will again be unavailable: “He’s got a little tear in his groin and will miss out, as will Richard Wright, who pulled pec muscle in training on Monday, so he’ll be out for a week to 10 days.

“I don’t know how long Grant will be out. I spoke to him earlier and he was a bit sore yesterday but it’s a little bit easier today.

“I don’t really like putting time-frames on things because sometimes players recover quicker and sometimes they take longer. It’s a day by day thing but he won’t be fit for Saturday."

David Stockdale could return after missing the last two matches with a shoulder problem: “He did a light session this morning with the goalkeeping coach and he’s going to do a little bit more this afternoon.”

If the on-loan Fulham man doesn’t make it, Arran Lee-Barrett will continue in goal, having impressed at Burnley despite conceding four goals: “I thought he made some good saves. He was exposed quite a bit on Tuesday night and he did OK. He was one of the very few to come out with any credit on Tuesday night.”

Damien Delaney remains on the sidelines having recently undergone surgery on a stressed fracture to his foot.

Photo: Action Images

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Photo: Action Images

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