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Miller May Return to Midfield
Miller May Return to Midfield
Friday, 26th Oct 2007 14:07

Midfielder Tommy Miller could make a surprise return to the Town side taking on Wolves at Portman Road on Saturday as the Blues look for their 10th successive home victory. Defender Richard Naylor is also included in the squad.

Miller has made remarkable recovery after injuring ankle ligaments at QPR last week and could be ready in time to take his place in the centre of the midfield. The former Sunderland man will be given a fitness test after Friday training prior to a decision being made.

If Miller is fit, then Sylvain Legwinski will drop back to the bench. Owen Garvan will keep his place in central midfield with Jon Walters on the right.

Billy Clarke put in a quieter display against Colchester in midweek after one of his most impressive first team performances at QPR and that earlier showing could be enough for the Irish U21 international to retain his place on the left of the midfield. Gary Roberts will be hoping Jim Magilton thinks otherwise and hands him a return.

Gavin Williams is expected to be back from his ankle ligament damage in mid-November, while Liam Trotter, scorer of his first senior goal against Colchester, is included in the squad ahead of Jaime Peters.

At the back, Naylor is unlikely to be given a start after playing only two reserve matches since undergoing toe surgery in the summer. Town's longest-serving player is unlikely to be vying with Fabian Wilnis and Alex Bruce for the role alongside skipper Jason De Vos for another few weeks.

Wilnis is likely to keep his place at centre-half with Dan Harding and David Wright the full-backs and penalty hero Neil Alexander in goal.


Up front, Pablo Couñago and Alan Lee will continue their partnership, with Danny Haynes, who opened his account for the season against the U's, being introduced after the break at some stage.

Boss Jim Magilton says Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has assembled a decent side: “Mick has always produced very good teams that are hard to beat and have real quality.

“They bought very well in the summer and have a fantastic work ethic. Wolves have togetherness and attitude to not be beaten and, as an uncompromising centre-half himself, his teams are build to keep clean sheets.

“He will be very optimistic about their chances this year and, with six wins on the bounce, they are flying and we are well aware of what a tough ask it will be.

“We had them watched at Cardiff and to get three goals and win there is a great achievement.”

McCarthy is considering his striking options with Andy Keogh's form dropping off and Freddy Eastwood impressive from the bench at Ninian Park in midweek: “I said that my best partnership is Andy Keogh and Stephen Elliott and that is what I thought.

“Keogh has obviously played every game so far and perhaps he is starting to look a bit leggy and threadbare at the moment.

“I thought Jay Bothroyd was excellent against Cardiff and Freddy did well when he came on. He came back from Wales with an achilles problem so he was ruled out of a start on Saturday and Bothroyd played well. I said all along there is no problem between me and him.”

Wolves are without on-loan Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson, who has a thigh injury. Stephen Elliott has a hamstring problem, while keeper Matt Murray and defenders Gary Breen and Rob Edwards are long-term absentees due to knee problems. Michael Gray and Andy Keogh are fine after hamstring and leg injuries respectively.

Town will be out for their 10th successive home win, however, they are some way for beating their all-time record for consecutive victories at Portman Road. Between defeating Norwich City 2-0 in December 1980 and recording a 1-0 win over Cologne in April 1981 the Blues racked up 15 wins in a row in all competitions.

Coincidentally, the 10th game in that run was a 3-1 league win over Saturday's opponents Wolves.

Last season Wolves recorded a double over the Blues, running out 1-0 winners on both occasions. At Molineux Jay Bothroyd netted the goal for his side despite Carl Cort's early red card and Matt Richards missing a penalty. At Portman Road one-time Town target Stephen Ward was on target.

Saturday's referee is Andy Woolmer, who has shown 35 yellow and no red cards in 11 games so far this season. Town have had little success in games previously controlled by Woolmer, the Blues losing all four.

The Northamptonshire official was in charge during last season's 5-1 home defeat to West Brom, the 1-0 loss at Wolves in February 2006, the 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace on Boxing Day 2005 and the 2-0 Carling Cup exit at the hands of Yeovil Town in September 2005.

Squad: Alexander, Bruce, Clarke, Couñago, De Vos, Garvan, Harding, Haynes, Lee, Legwinski, T Miller, Naylor, Roberts, Supple, Trotter, Walters, Wilnis, Wright.


Photo: Action Images



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