Star of the season so far Jon Walters has emerged as an injury doubt ahead of Tuesday's home game with Southampton (KO 7.45pm). The striker-turned-midfielder hurt his groin in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Cardiff.

Boss Jim Magilton says Walters will not be risked if there are any concerns about his injury: “Jon Walters has picked up a slight groin strain and we will see how he is. We are mindful that we also have a game on Saturday.”

If Walters fails to make it, Gavin Williams could switch to the right of midfield, although the Town management may choose to rest the Welshman for the Blues' second game in four days.

Saturday's game at Cardiff was Williams's first of the season after a lengthy spell out with ankle ligament damage, but Magilton says he came through relatively unscathed: “Gavin has a few aches and pain, but I'm sure he will be raring to go but we have to be careful with him.”

Other options open to the Town manager if Walters fails to make it, are to bring in either Jaime Peters or Danny Haynes. Peters would be more of a surprise with the Canadian having been out of the first team picture for most of the season.

Magilton has to decide whether to make any other changes to the side which was disappointing at Cardiff, but which was little different to the team which has been rampant at home in recent months.

If Williams drops out or moves to the right in place of Walters, Billy Clarke could be in line for a return. The Irishman was in the 16 at Cardiff after suffering a thigh injury in training the previous week. Gary Roberts is another alternative, but the former Accrington man has been behind Clarke in the pecking order in recent weeks.

In central midfield, Owen Garvan was quieter than usual at Cardiff, possibly due to the calf injury which saw him join Clarke in dropping out of the Irish U21 squad last week. The 19-year-old will probably keep his place with Tommy Miller, also under-par at Ninian Park, alongside him. Sylvain Legwinski and Liam Trotter are likely to get their chance at some point during what is a very busy next month for the Blues.

Changes to the defence seem unlikely with a back four of David Wright, Dan Harding, Alex Bruce and skipper Jason De Vos playing in front of Neil Alexander. Richard Naylor is due to see a specialist regarding his slipped disc this week, although his condition is progressing.

Up front, the pairing of Alan Lee and Pablo Couñago has been highly successful at home, but less so away. Danny Haynes is likely to play a role from the bench in the second half if he doesn't come in on the right of midfield from the start.

Southampton, currently 12th in the Championship, are managed by former Town boss George Burley and have a number of ex-Blues in the ranks. Kelvin Davis, Jermaine Wright and Chris Makin are amongst the playing staff, while Malcolm Webster is the goalkeeper coach.

Defender Wayne Thomas and midfielder Inigo Idiakez both missed the 1-0 weekend victory over Blackpool with achilles injuries and Burley says they are unlikely to face the Blues: "We hoped a fortnight of rest would do Inigo good but he is still not right and will be out for another week.

"He went over to Spain during the international break and had another injection but unfortunately it still has not cleared up.

"He won't be ready for Ipswich and we'll have to see how it settles down for Leicester.”

Also on the sidelines at present are Alexander Ostlund (hamstring), Darren Powell (calf), Lucien Mettomo (hamstring), Claus Lundekvam (ankle), Michael Poke (knee) and Chris Makin (hip). The Saints have also lost central defender Christian Dailly, who has gone back to West Ham after a two-month loan spell.

Kelvin Davis is set to start in goal, while Jermaine Wright is fit but has not been involved in the first team since early October.

Burley says the weekend win was very welcome: "It was badly needed. We had a good spell up to three games before when we won four out of six and now we've got another win.

"Ipswich is a very tough one and we're without five or six experienced players, so we'll see who's available, but this will put us back within touching distance of the play-offs.”

Last season, Town defeated the Saints 2-1 at Portman Road thanks to a penalty from Simon Walton and a late winner from Billy Clarke, Kenwyne Jones having put the visitors in front in the third minute. Marek Saganowski netted the only goal of the match in the opening minute at St Mary's.

Overall, the Blues have won 24 games against the Saints (23 in the league), drawing 16 (16) and have lost 19 (15) times.

Town will be looking to extend their home win streak to 12 games, three short of the 15-match record set in 1956/57. The run of away games without a win now stands at 13 games (12 in the league), still well behind the record set across three seasons between 1962 and 1965. However, the Blues are closing on a 15-match no away win streak set in the mid-nineties.

Tuesday's referee is Grant Hegley from Hertfordshire, who has shown an astonishingly low seven yellow cards and one red in eight games so far this season. Hegley's last Town game was the 2-1 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday in August 2005.

Only a few copies of TWTD issue 89 are left and will not be on sale at the game. If you still haven't bought yours, they are available by post here.

Likely squad: Alexander, Supple, Wright, Harding, De Vos, Bruce, Wilnis, Garvan, Miller, Legwinski, Trotter, Williams, Walters, Clarke, Peters, Roberts, Lee, Couñago, Haynes.

Photo: Action Images

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