IPSWICH Town boss Jim Magilton today gave the green light for keeper Neil Alexander and defender Dan Harding to face the Sky Blues in tomorrow's Championship game at Portman Road (kick off 5.20pm)

By Elvin King

IPSWICH Town boss Jim Magilton today gave the green light for keeper Neil Alexander and defender Dan Harding to face the Sky Blues in tomorrow's Championship game at Portman Road (kick off 5.20pm).

The Blues boss publicly criticised both players after the 4-0 defeat at West Brom last Saturday, but today he said: “Every player is allowed one bad game.”

And the manager also hinted that left-sided midfield player Gary Roberts would return to the side as the Blues looked to continue their good home run that has seen them gain victories in their previous six league matches.

Alexander's wife Joanne is expecting the couple's second child and the plan is for her to be induced on Tuesday as she is now gone beyond the due date.

Magilton added: “Neil is in the right frame of mind and he is very much in my consideration to play against Coventry.

“Dan Harding made a mistake for West Brom's second goal, which was avoidable but hopefully he will gain from the rollicking that he received.

“He has been an ever-present since he arrived herte and there may have been a thought that he was an automatic choice.

“He will now appreciate that this is not the case but he is still a good player and gives balance to the left side of the team.”

And talking about Roberts, Magilton added: “He was really buzzing when he first arrived here last season but has lost a bit of self-confidence and the zip to go beyond opponents.

“He will be in my mind to play tomorrow and he is one of the fittest players we have at the club.”

Talking about Coventry, who are likely to include big striker Dele Adebola up front who was once a target for Jim Magilton, the Ipswich manager said: “They will come here with controlled aggression and will pass the ball around and make life very difficult for us.

“We must match that because we know that it is important we collect three points tomorrow and to do this we will have to make sure we work hard.”

Ipswich have a clean bill of health apart from long-serving injury worries Richard Naylor and Gavin Williams while Danny Haynes serves the last game of a three match suspension.

Town chief scout Steve McCall is currently abroad looking at games and Magilton added: “We have no particular player in mind but Steve will be looking at matches and coming back and completing a full dossier on the players he has watched.”

McCall is believed to be in Poland at the moment and might be moving on to other locations for other games this week.