Blues boss Paul Jewell says French trialists Plaisir Bahamboula and Soualio Bakayoko have impressed during their week with Town. The pair came on in the second half of yesterday’s 1-1 friendly draw at Helmond Sport.

Jewell said: “Soualio and Plaisir have been with us since last Monday and they’ve trained very well. They’re only young boys, 21, and it’s a good opportunity for us to have a look at them.”

Left-sided winger Bahamboula started his career with French club Souchaux during which time he attracted the interest of Newcastle United after impressing in the final of the Gambardella Cup, which is much like the FA Youth Cup.

Having spent three seasons in the Souchaux B side, which plays in CFA Groupe B (fourth tier), Bahamboula joined Royal Antwerp in Belgium last year but failed to break into the first team and was released.

Born in Corbeil in France and capped by the French three times at U19 level, Bahamboula also qualifies to play international football for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Left-back Bakayoko began his career with hometown club Paris FC before joining Châteauroux and playing for their B team in CFA 2 Groupe D (fifth tier).

Jewell is pleased with the way all his squad are applying themselves at their training camp: “Coming to Holland for a team like Ipswich is almost like a home game — it’s less travelling than anywhere in England.

“It’s a really good facility we’ve got. We’re only here for five days. We worked them exceptionally hard, morning and afternoon yesterday.

“But it’s not about today, it’s about getting them fit, getting them in the right condition and frame of mind and getting the new players - although we haven’t got as many as we’d like but that will be changing - to bed in during some time away.”

While Jewell says it’s nice to win pre-season matches, it’s not the main issue and last night’s opposition have been back in training longer than the Blues: “They’ve been training for four weeks, so they’re ahead of us.”

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

Photo: Action Images

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