Town will again be without skipper Gareth McAuley for Sunday's final game of the season at home to Coventry, Roy Keane's first home match in charge of the Blues (KO 1.15pm). The Northern Irishman is over his hamstring problem but picked up a knee injury in training.

McAuley was involved in a collision with a goalkeeper at Playford Road on Tuesday and will require treatment for the next two or three weeks.

Better news for the new Blues boss is that Moritz Volz is likely to be available having recently had an injection aimed at curing his groin problem, while Alex Bruce is OK despite dislocating his thumb last week, although he may have to wear a cast.

In addition to McAuley, Town are also still without Jon Walters (ankle), Ben Thatcher (ankle), Luciano Civelli (knee ligaments), David Wright (hamstring), Jordan Rhodes (broken metatarsal) and Shane Supple (knee), while Tommy Smith played his third reserve game on Tuesday after his lengthy absence with a broken ankle.

New manager Keane says he has been happy with his first week at the club: "The players have responded well and I'm delighted. My first impressions of everyone at the football club have been great, everyone has been very helpful and we're looking forward to getting into next season.

"I won't be looking to change too much. They're a decent bunch, both the players and the staff, and they've been very helpful towards Tony Loughlan and myself, and I can't praise them enough.

"The training's been fairly light because it's been a long season and we've got plenty of injuries.”

Keane watched the reserves win 5-0 at Leyton Orient on Tuesday and was very pleased with Chris Kiwomya's men, with hints earlier in the week that one or two of the younger players might be involved against the Sky Blues.

The new Town manager's options are fairly limited on that front with the likes of Billy Clarke and Liam Trotter out on loan, but Dean Bowditch and Connor Wickham, who both scored twice at Brisbane Road, and Chris Casement could be involved in Sunday's 16.

Richard Wright will start in goal with Jaime Peters set to get another start at right-back with Matt Richards on the left. Pim Balkestein and Alex Bruce will probably be at the centre of the defence, where they were at Cardiff until the Irish international's injury. Moritz Volz looks unlikely to be involved with his loan spell from Fulham up at the end of the season.

Owen Garvan looks likely to start at the centre of midfield, while Veliche Shumulikoski could come into the centre as the new manager looks at his squad. Iván Campo started last week at Cardiff, but is likely to be one of the players Keane is most familiar with.

David Norris impressed at Ninian Park and should start, probably on the right, while Giovani Dos Santos could be on the left. However, the Spurs player's loan at Town ends after Sunday and Keane may prefer to take a longer look at Danny Haynes, a sub at Cardiff.

Up front, Kevin Lisbie and Pablo Couñago started a week ago, but Jon Stead came off the bench to score one and create two. The former Sunderland man, sold to then-Premier League Sheffield United when Keane was with the Black Cats, could come in to the starting line-up, probably for Lisbie.

While the new boss is continuing to assess his squad, he's in no doubt that a win in front of a Portman Road crowd of around 28,000 is important: "I think the season has been frustrating for a lot of people at the football club and we want to leave on a high on Sunday by getting a win in front of our supporters.

"Then we have a very busy summer starting next week, first dealing with the players whose contracts are up. I'll be meeting with the owner and the chief executive in the next week or two and possibly look at some targets. As for the players out on loan, I'll have to rely on feedback from the staff who have seen them through the season.

"I have been pleasantly surprised with the group of players here. It's not all doom and gloom.”

Keane reiterated that there will be no major turnaround in players over the summer, but has his targets and has identified areas which need strengthening. Three or four new signings seem more likely that the larger number which came in during the last close season.

The Irishman denied any link with Portsmouth coach Brian Kidd and says he has made no decisions whether he will add anyone else to his coaching staff at this stage: "I've not spoken to Kiddo for a few months now.

"It's just speculation. I've been linked with Kiddo for two or three years now and it's probably not going to go away.

"I've not made any decision on staff or players here yet. I'm very happy with Tony Loughlan here as coach. He's someone who I trust and the players have responded to him.

"The other staff here, Bryan Klug and Steve Foley have been a great help. I've not come here to make lots of changes. If I see something that I think can be improved I will make it, but I have been impressed with everyone at the club."

Like Town, Coventry are in the mid-table rump of the division with no chance of the play-offs and no fear of going down. The Sky Blues currently sit in 17th position on 54 points, eight places and nine points behind the Blues.

Boss Chris Coleman says he's glad that Roy Keane's arrival at Portman Road has given an otherwise pointless game some meaning: "I prefer to go into a game like Sunday because it will have an edge.

"It will be a big crowd, their players will want to impress the new manager and the manager will be keen to impress the fans.

"So we are up against it, but I prefer that rather than going into a game where everyone is on the beach.

"The potential backlash is we end up getting a hiding – and if we don't go about our business in the right way then we will, end of story.

"If the lads want to go on holiday after a big hiding after Ipswich that's up to them, but I don't want that to happen. I want to go over there and see a performance and get a result.

"Ipswich will want to go to war with us, but we want to go to war with them. Good! That suits me because I like games like that when there is something on it. There is nothing worse than playing with nothing on a game.

"We have got a lot to play for and we are not going to amble through for 90 minutes. We are playing for pride.

"Do we want to go over there and lie down, which is the easy way out, lose the game and come away? Or do we go over and be men about it and go and do our job?”

Town have a good record against the Sky Blues over the years, winning 34 games (32 in the league) losing 20 times (18) and with 22 matches (21) ending in draws.

Last season, goals from Pablo Couñago (2), Jason De Vos and Jon Walters saw Town to a 4-1 victory over the Sky Blues at Portman Road, with Stephen Hughes netting for Coventry.

In December, the teams drew 2-2 at the Ricoh Arena, Kevin Lisbie scoring twice for the Blues and Clinton Morrison and Freddy Eastwood for the Sky Blues.

Coventry should have striker Leon Best available after injury, while midfielder Guillaume Beuzelin is likely to be back after illness.

Striker Clinton Morrison has a knee injury but is expected to play, while midfielder Kevin Thornton will be out with a shoulder problem picked up in training. Defender Danny Fox is suspended.

Ex-Town keeper Andy Marshall is a current member of the Coventry squad, although he misses Sunday's game with a back injury and has been told be will not be offered a new deal by manager Chris Coleman. No member of Roy Keane's squad has played for the Sky Blues, although Moritz Volz played Coleman at Fulham.

TWTD issue 97 will be on sale from our sellers around the ground before kick-off. Although some articles have been slightly overtaken by the recent momentous events at Portman Road, it's still well worth shelling out £1.50.

Jon Walters is this issue's interview star and talks about the disappointing season but also says that much groundwork has been done which will benefit the club in the future. Elsewhere, Gavin Barber outlines the likely shape of this summer's speculation, Roger Hermiston assesses some of the press coverage the Blues have been getting this season and Frank Weston puts former manager Jim Magilton on trial.

If you're not at the game, you can buy a single copy or six-issue subscription here. Subscriptions can also be obtained for free if you sign up to one of our affiliates.

The Ipswich ‘Til I Die book will be on sale on our stall and is also available from the website. Our range of T-shirts is entirely outsourced and are only available from the website.

Sunday's referee is Graham Laws from Tyne and Wear, who has shown 60 yellow and four red cards in 35 games this season. Laws's last Town match was the 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest in October.

Likely squad: R Wright, Bialkowski, Peters, Richards, Casement, Bruce, Balkestein, Campo, Garvan, Shumulikoski, Norris, Dos Santos, Haynes, Quinn, Stead, Couñago, Lisbie, Bowditch, Wickham.

Photo: Action Images

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