Town will name the same squad that faced Sheffield United last week for Saturday's game at Bradford with the addition of midfielder Martijn Reuser. The Dutchman, available on a free transfer, missed out last week as his wife was having a baby.

Town's main injury worry this week has been Thomas Gaardsøe, however he is back in training after hurting his knee in a collision with Jermaine Wright and will be OK to make the trip. Tommy Miller continues to suffer with tendinitis and is only training on alternate days. He will rest on Friday in order to be fit for Bradford.

Finidi George has a thigh strain and hasn't trained for a week while Alun Armstrong has a tight hamstring and was withdrawn from the reserve side which faced Harwich and Parkeston on Wednesday night.

Long-term knee injury victim John McGreal is making good progress and should get back to action in the next couple of weeks. Mark Venus has been suffering with a virus and is still expected to require surgery on his knee which is likely to sideline him for about six weeks. Town are still awaiting test results confirming that he will need the operation.

Despite their financial problems and a small and largely inexperienced squad Bradford have had some decent results of late. Joe Royle says he has been impressed: “They're doing well, there's only Ashley Ward remaining from their halcyon days in the Premier League, everyone else has gone. They've had hard times there for a while and they've done well to keep going.

“We'll be going for three points. I was sat here a month ago saying our destiny would rest on our home form and we seem to have been quite good at home since then, but we've been blowing things a little bit away.

“We should have won at Burnley, we missed enough chances at Burnley and at Sheffield last week to win a month of games. So, we've got to put that right and we do need to start going to win games again.”

Royle was concerned at the way the four goals were conceded last week at Sheffield United: “Our goalkeeper didn't have a save to make apart from picking the ball out of the net four times. Great finishes from Browny, but if you analyse it from our point of view their goals came from two throw-ins, a corner and a freekick.

“We don't like conceding goals that way and we've been working on defending as a team, not just as a backline. We've got to be aware that when the opposition have got the ball, all eleven have got to defend if we're going to be successful.”

Bradford have massive injury problems ahead of Saturday and have brought former Sheffield United striker Adrian Littlejohn in as cover just for the Town game alone, paying him £350. Current highest scorer, ex-Leeds man Andy Gray, is suspended as is experienced defender Peter Atherton.

Also missing are David Wetherall, Gary Walsh and Jamie Lawrence who are all injured. Manager Nicky Law says the Bantams' chronic injury crisis is as dire as he can remember occurring anywhere: “I don't only think it's just the worst I've experienced, I think it's the worst situation of all time!

"We're down to eight players being fit from the 11 that started on Saturday and so it looks like we'll be bringing in more youth team players.

"We've already got Lewis Emanuel in there and Simon Francis — who is only 17 — but there will have to be more for the Ipswich game.

"I've not made my mind up which ones yet, but it will be an opportunity for some of them, whoever gets the nod."

Town squad: Abidallah, Ambrose, D Bent, M Bent, Couñago, Gaardsøe, Holland, Hreidarsson, Magilton, Makin, Marshall, T Miller, Naylor, Pullen, Reuser, Richards, Wilnis and Wright.

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls