IPSWICH defender Richard Naylor risks paying a heavy price for his bravery at Walsall two days ago.Broken toe victim Naylor willingly turned out, with the aid of pre-match painkilling injections, in Town's 3-1 win at the Bescot Stadium.

IPSWICH defender Richard Naylor risks paying a heavy price for his bravery at Walsall two days ago.

Broken toe victim Naylor willingly turned out, with the aid of pre-match painkilling injections, in Town's 3-1 win at the Bescot Stadium.

But the club's longest-serving player was forced to sit out training today and could miss Saturday's home clash with Watford.

Manager Joe Royle said: “Richard was very brave and did us a huge favour by playing the other night, but he is far more sore than we expected he would be.

“He is not training today and still has 48 hours before the game, but he must be rated doubtful.”

But help could be at hand with the news that John McGreal returned to training today after being absent from the last three first team games with a knee problem.

Should he come through without any reaction, and consider himself fit enough, McGreal would be the ideal man to slot in alongside loanee Matt Elliott in the heart of the Town defence.

Another casualty, Chris Bart-Williams, was also set to return to training today after missing four games because of a persistent back injury.

But other crocks Georges Santos (nose), Martijn Reuser (knee) and Pablo Counago (hamstring) were still resting and receiving treatment.

Meanwhile, Royle today confirmed that he recently considered Newcastle left-back Robbie Elliott as a short-term replacement for teenager Matt Richards.

The Town boss explained: “It's no secret that about four weeks ago I was trying hard to give Matt a rest. He was showing signs of fatigue, which happens with young players.

“I made an inquiry about Robbie Elliott - he was one of a few players on my short list - but it never got any further than that.

“Matt has since played his way through that spell and is back in form again, so the problem doesn't exist any more.”

But Royle confirmed he would still like to bring in a new face ahead of the transfer deadline in a week's time.

He said: “The two players I am interested in are both injured at the moment, but not seriously. There is still a chance I will get one of them - it's not impossible and I wouldn't totally rule it out.

“But the main one I wanted was Matt Elliott. I had a verbal agreement with him and, while he's with us initially for a month, I would ideally like him to stay for the rest of the season.

“He hasn't played much competitive football at Leicester, so he enjoyed the match day buzz again and did well on his debut at Walsall. His performance was excellent.

“I'm not expecting Matt to run all over the place, but he is a player who is usually in the right place at the right time.

“It doesn't matter how many games you have played or how much money you earn, it's nice to be wanted. I could tell from the smile on his face that he enjoyed playing for us.

“Matt likes the way we play and settled in fine, but there is probably more to come from him.”