Charlton striker in contention to make first start at Ipswich (From News Shopper)

Charlton striker in contention to make first start at Ipswich

3:14pm Thursday 20th September 2012 in Charlton Athletic By Paul Green

RICARDO Fuller could be on course for his first Charlton start at Ipswich on Saturday.

The 32-year-old striker has caught the eye with several cameo roles from the bench since signing as a free agent after being released by Stoke over the summer.

He was introduced for Bradley Wright-Phillips on the hour at Derby when Charlton were 2-0 down and although they were to concede another, they went on to stage a late rally by pulling it back to 3-2 by the 72nd minute.

Fuller may not have been among the scorers but Chris Powell hinted he could finally be fit enough to begin the game at Portman Road this weekend.

“Yes he could,” the Valley manager said.

“He has shown to everyone what he is about, the difficulty has always been that Ric had no training behind him.

“You can’t rush him because then it will set you back and set him back more than anything if you throw him in after a week or two of training.

“We’ve had to build him up to get him right and he is getting there so there is a decision for me to make now because I feel he warranted enough training sessions and warranted enough in the games that he has played maybe to see how much we can get out of him from the start.”

One man who won’t be available for the Ipswich game is Jordan Cook.

Powell explained: “Sadly we’ve lost Jordan Cook initially to conjunctivitis but now it has turned into an eye ulcer so it is a bit of a strange injury.

“Hopefully he will be back with us in the next three or four days.”

Recovering duo Danny Haynes and Scott Wagstaff are also some way from first team action.

Powell added: “Danny Haynes has just come back and played in a friendly game.

“He did an hour alongside Scott Wagstaff and they’ve both been injured for a number of weeks so they got some minutes under their belt on Wednesday.

“They still need a bit more to be honest with you.”

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