Town boss Jim Magilton will be without strikers Pablo Couñago and Jon Stead and defender Tommy Smith for Wednesday's home third round Carling Cup tie with Wigan Athletic (KO 7.45pm). Magilton has recalled striker Dean Bowditch, whose last appearance for the Blues was in October 2006.

Couñago will have a scan today on the ankle injury he sustained in training on Friday and which forced him to miss the Sheffield Wednesday game.

The Spaniard is considered a doubt ahead of Saturday's live Sky game with Crystal Palace but the extent of his problem should be known more clearly once the club have the results of the scan later this week.

Smith broke his ankle in training on Monday and will undergo surgery later in the week. The 18-year-old is likely to be out of action until March.

Stead played for former club Sheffield United in their second round Carling Cup victory at his home town club Huddersfield and is cup-tied.

The absence of Couñago and Stead sees Dean Bowditch come into the first team picture for the first time this season, having scored a hat-trick for the reserves a week ago.

Jim Magilton has confirmed he will make changes with some of his established regulars likely to be left out: "I think there are one or two in my squad that need a little rest and our priority is the league. It gives other people a chance to come in and press.

"Dean Bowditch has been doing extremely well in the reserves, his confidence is really flying at the moment and he'll be drafted into the squad.”

Bowditch will probably be amongst the seven subs permitted in the Carling Cup with Jon Walters and Kevin Lisbie likely to be the front pairing if Jim Magilton chooses to go with a 4-4-2 formation. That could see Danny Haynes come back in on the right of midfield.

If Town use a five-man midfield then Walters would probably move to that role with Haynes either dropping to the bench or switching to the left.

David Norris is again likely to start as he continues towards full match fitness with Iván Campo in the running for his second Town start. Veliche Shumulikoski will also be looking to keep his place after starting at Sheffield Wednesday, while Tommy Miller will be hoping for a recall. Owen Garvan looks likely to be rested after a busy schedule of Town and Irish U21 games in recent weeks.

Ben Thatcher could return at left-back after his dead leg, but David Wright may well have done well enough to keep his place in the former Charlton man's absence.

Moritz Volz will probably continue at right-back while Alex Bruce looks set to face his dad's side with Richard Naylor expected to be rested. Skipper Gareth McAuley is likely to keep his place after returning from injury at Sheffield Wednesday.

Shane Supple played in goal in the first round Carling Cup tie against Leyton Orient, but was surprisingly omitted from the Colchester game in round two. Magilton may prefer to stick with Richard Wright as he continues to look to bed in his summer signings.

Magilton says the league is the main focus, but that he would welcome further progress in the Carling Cup: "For us our realistic ambitions lie with the league, but we have an opportunity to progress and there is an outside chance we could go all the way in this competition.

"Wigan have a more realistic ambition of going on and winning the tournament. Premier League outfits outside the top four believe that the Carling Cup is probably their best opportunity of going all the way and is a realistic chance of getting into Europe.

"We are at home, we're going to put on a show, we are going to try and win the game and if we progress through this one it'll be a major fillip of confidence for everyone.

"There's no reason why we can't win the game, we'll obviously have to play very, very well and they need to have an off night, but over the years there have been major upsets.

"Wigan will come here perhaps thinking this is a potential banana skin, but they will be come ready and prepared. They are a very, very good side and they will get our total respect.”

Steve Bruce has promised to field a strong side with Lee Cattermole back from a one-match ban. Fellow midfielder Michael Brown missed the 0-0 draw at Spurs on Sunday as his wife had gone into labour but is expected to return on Wednesday.

The Latics could be without Egyptian striker Amr Zaki, who picked up a calf injury in the Spurs game and faces a fitness test today.

Wigan have a surprisingly small squad for a Premier League side and named two goalkeepers amongst their seven subs at Spurs on Sunday.

The sides previously met in the League Cup in the 1992/93 season when they drew 2-2 in the first leg at Springfield Park with the Town goals coming from Gavin Johnson and a John Robertson own goal.

Town's reserve coach Chris Kiwomya netted a hat-trick in the second leg at Portman Road and Johnson scored again as the Blues ran out 4-0 winners against a Latics side then managed by Bryan Hamilton.

In the league, the sides have met on only four occasions, Wigan winning three and Town one.

The Latics are managed by Town defender Alex Bruce's dad Steve, while Town full-back David Wright joined the Blues from Wigan for £200,000 in January 2007. Former Town central defender Titus Bramble is now with Wigan, while keeper Mike Pollitt played one game on loan with the Blues in 2006, a glorious 3-1 derby victory over Norwich City.

The draw for the fourth round takes place on Saturday on Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports One from 12:15pm. Town last progressed through to the fourth round in 2004 when they lost on penalties at Liverpool after a 1-1 draw, having beaten Brighton and Middlesbrough in rounds two and three after a bye through the first round.

Wednesday's referee is Mike Dean from the Wirral, one of the Select Group of officials who takes charge of Premier League games. On Monday afternoon, Dean replaced Stuart Attwell, who was originally down to take control of the match, after the youngest-ever Premier League official awarded Watford their ‘goal that never was' on Saturday.

Dean has shown 18 yellow cards and one red in five games so far this season. His last Blues match was the 3-2 defeat at Stoke in September 2004, when Ade Akinbiyi scored an 85th minute winner after receiving a freekick with several Town defenders expecting the ball to be played back to them following a break for treatment to injuries.

The assistant referees couldn't have a better pedigree, Phil Sharp having run the line in the 1998 World Cup final, while Darren Cann was one of Howard Webb's assistants at this year's European Championships.

Likely squad: R Wright, Supple, Volz, Thatcher, D Wright, McAuley, Bruce, Naylor, Balkestein, Norris, Shumulikoski, Campo, Miller, Garvan, Quinn, Haynes, Peters, Walters, Lisbie, Bowditch.

Photo: Action Images

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