Gillingham could hand debut to Tom Dickson-Peters for Ipswich clash

Posted Friday, January 07, 2022 by PA

Tom Dickson-Peters could make his Gillingham debut when Ipswich visit Priestfield on Saturday.

The Gills – currently 22nd in the League One table – announced on Tuesday they had signed the 19-year-old striker on loan from Norwich for the rest of the season.

Midfielder Dan Adshead, also on loan from Norwich, has been sidelined since late November due to a broken foot, with the expectation that he will be out until the middle of January.

There could be a return to action for skipper Kyle Dempsey, who was back in the matchday squad after injury as an unused substitute for the 0-0 draw at MK Dons on New Year’s Day, which halted a five-game losing streak.

Ipswich look set to have more players to choose from than they did for their last outing, the 1-0 home win over Wycombe on December 29 that was their first match under new boss Kieran McKenna.

Christian Walton and Cameron Burgess missed that game after testing positive for coronavirus, Kyle Edwards and Rekeem Harper did not make the squad despite returning to training having recovered from Covid-19, and Bersant Celina, Jon Nolan and Hayden Coulson were ruled out by injury.

Ahead of Saturday’s contest, McKenna has mentioned only Nolan and Coulson as absentees, adding that “other than that we have had a big group out at training”.

The Tractor Boys, whose New Year’s Day fixture against Lincoln was postponed due to coronavirus cases in the Imps’ squad, head into the encounter against Steve Evans’ Gillingham lying 11th in the table.