Jon Walters has been ruled out of Ipswich Town's crunch match at fellow strugglers Plymouth Argyle.

The striker sprained his ankle towards the end of Tuesday's 1-1 draw at home to Watford.

He now misses tomorrow's trip to Home Park, as does Connor Wickham, who is on international duty with England's Under-17s.

“It's a blow because Jon's a big character and a big leader, both on the pitch and in the dressing room,” said Blues boss Roy Keane.

“But with Connor also missing, it gives an opportunity to the likes of Jon Stead and Tamas Priskin.”

Keane has played down the notion of tomorrow's game being a “six-pointer”.

Town and Plymouth currently occupy the bottom two positions in the Championship, while the Blues are still win-less after 13 games.

However, Keane said: “We just see it as another game – our next game and another challenge.

“People will look at where they are in the table and class it as a six-pointer.

“But I'm pretty sure that if we win we'll still only get three on the board.

“Plymouth are fighting for their lives and it might not be set up as a classic game of football, but if we play with the same freedom and expression as the other night we'll have a very good chance.”

For more from Keane's pre-match press conference see www.gazette-news.co.uk from 7am on Saturday.

For a match preview, featuring the thoughts of Carlos Edwards, Gareth McAuley and Plymouth's former Colchester United hero Karl Duguid, see Friday's Daily Gazette.