Adding post images (thumbnails) to sidebar

Hi

I want to be able to show a panel of 3 most recent post, including the thumbnail (featured) image if it has one. I don’t want to use the sidebar.php file – but in essence am creating another version of it – it is to go on specific pages of the site.

My sidebar code is as follows and just shows the latest list of posts in a UL.

<ul>
    <?php
$IDOutsideLoop = $post->ID;
global $post;

$myposts = get_posts('showposts=10');
foreach($myposts as $post) :
?>
    <li <?php if(is_single() && $IDOutsideLoop == $post->ID) print 'class="currentPost"' ?>><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">
      <?php the_title(); ?>
      </a></li>
    <?php endforeach; ?>
  </ul>

For my new version, I ideally want the HTML to work in something like this

<ul>
<li><a href="#"><img src="http://localhost:8888/wp-content/themes/sandbanks/images/feature-panels/news/placeholder.jpg" width="260" height="91" alt="" /></a><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque eleifend, massa et sollicitudin rutrum, neque felis varius quam, quis eleifend augue <a href="#">READ MORE</a></p></li>
</ul>

But am rather stuck at where to start. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated 🙂