Andrews may be forced into Rovers return as injury dents transfer hopes

REPUBLIC of IRELAND midfielder Keith Andrews will be out of action for five weeks after tearing a hamstring in Ipswich’s St Stephen’s Day 1-1 draw at Leicester City — which could put his hopes of a January transfer in jeopardy.

The midfielder slipped as he went for a header in an incident, which saw him replaced just before the break at the King Power Stadium.

Andrews could have played his last match for the Tractor Boys, with his half-season loan from Blackburn up after Monday’s home game against Nottingham Forest.

Ipswich boss Paul Jewell is keen to sign the 31-year-old on a permanent basis with his club having held talks with Andrews’s agent.

However, there is some confusion as to whether the Premier League side are after a fee of €300,000 for the Dubliner or whether he’ll be available on a free transfer, with the Ewood Park club looking to rid themselves of a further 18 months of Andrews’s wages.

Jewell says Blackburn, who he has previously said aren’t the easiest club to deal with, need to clarify the position with Aston Villa, Everton, Swansea, Wigan and Bolton amongst a host of Premier League sides understood to be monitoring the situation.

“People think he’s a free but that’s a question we need to ask Blackburn really before anything can be done with any team, whether that’s a Premier League team or a Championship team,” Jewell said.

“The thing we’ve got to find out is whether he’s available on a free and if he’s not, how much he is available for.”

Andrews has repeatedly stated that he doesn’t want to return to the Lancashire club and Jewell says he’s told him that with a starting role in Giovanni Trapattoni’s Euro 2012-bound side currently his, playing regular football is his main aim.

“Keith’s words when I spoke to him this morning were that he doesn’t want to be a squad player anywhere, he doesn’t want to go to the Premier League and not play.

“He’s 31 now, he’s got the European Championships coming up in the summer and he needs to be playing.

“He likes it here, we like him but at the end of the day he’s got to do what’s best for Keith Andrews.”

Meanwhile, Derby’s young Irish defender Mark O’Brien has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a serious knee injury in training.

Dubliner O’Brien, 19, underwent reconstructive surgery after damaging his anterior cruciate ligament the previous day.

Manager Nigel Clough said: “It’s a big blow for Mark and we’re all devastated for him because his form and progress have been big positives.

“There was no-one around him in training when he went down injured, so there’s a huge element of misfortune about how it happened. We will support him every step of the way in his rehabilitation work and Mark remains a big part of our future plans.”

The Dublin-born defender has already suffered a number of setbacks in his career. He had heart surgery in 2009 at the age of 16 after the discovery of a faulty valve and he also required ankle surgery last season.