Brown out of Portman Road trip

Brown: Sidelined with hip injury

The January signing from Norwich is nursing a hip injury and boss Alan Irvine will take no risks with the former Sunderland forward.

Irvine said: "Chris has got a little bit of a problem that we are not quite getting to the bottom of but we will keep on working on him and hopefully he will be back soon."

Brown's absence is a serious blow to North End after he played a key role in their successful relegation fight last term.

Highly-rated winger Simon Whaley could now be handed a central striking berth while new recruits Ross Wallace and Barry Nicholson are set for their debuts.

Aside from long-term injury absentees Neal Trotman and Liam Chilvers, North End have a clean bill of health for the long trip to Suffolk.