 Friday, 25th Sep 2009 12:18 Town are again likely to be without central defender Gareth McAuley for Saturday’s live BBC game against Newcastle United, which will see the North Stand renamed in honour of Sir Bobby Robson (BBC2 from 5.05pm, KO 5.30pm). The Northern Irishman is back from his one-match ban but has a calf injury. McAuley picked up the injury in the warm-up ahead of the Nottingham Forest game, in which he was sent off, and hasn’t trained since then, although he has managed some light jogging. Keane says he will train today, but appears unlikely to be in Saturday’s starting line-up. The Town boss was pleased with Tommy Smith’s performance at Doncaster and the England U18 international seems likely to continue alongside skipper Alex Bruce at the centre of the defence. Keane was generally happy with his team at Doncaster, other than the three goals which were conceded, and is unlikely to make too many changes. Liam Rosenior and Damien Delaney are set to continue in the full-back roles. In midfield, Carlos Edwards is over his hamstring injury and will be on the right of midfield with Lee Martin on the left. Grant Leadbitter and Alan Quinn have impressed in the centre and will probably continue, despite Jack Colback having done well and having scored his first career goal after coming off the bench a week ago. Up front, Keane has hinted that Tamás Priskin could come into his thoughts for a start having scored at Doncaster, probably alongside Pablo Couñago in place of Jon Walters. Connor Wickham is again out of action with his groin problem, while long-term absentees David Norris and Luciano Civelli aren't due back in action until the end of the year as they recover from knee ligament injuries. The half-time break will see the North Stand rechristened in honour of Sir Bobby Robson by his wife Lady Elsie along with other tributes to the sides’ former boss, while the players from both sides will wear special commemorative shirts, which will subsequently be auctioned off for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. Keane, again in a relaxed and unruffled mood at his pre-match press conference, says this aspect of the day is unlikely to take the players’ focus away from the match itself: ”It’ll be a great occasion with the renaming of the stand following on from the service on Monday, which was beautiful. It’s going to be great for both clubs and hopefully the supporters will enjoy it. “From the players’ point of view, we have to stay focused on the game and I’ve always found that easy in my career. That’s what we’re here for - to try and get the right result.” The Blues boss, who despite the continued lack of a league win says he is enjoying life in Suffolk, isn’t surprised that Newcastle are currently second in the table: “Good team, good players. Not many teams in the Championship have a couple of players who have won the Champions League. It’s no surprise to me that they’re doing well. They’ve had a good start just like West Brom and Middlesbrough. “Looking at the games we’ve played, we deservedly lost to West Brom and Middlesbrough, when you look at the teams who have come down, so we know it’s going to be a tough game against Newcastle, but we’re looking forward to it. “The mood in our camp is pretty decent, pretty positive. The players have been pretty positive over the last few weeks, the new players have settled in well and the signs are certainly better from my point of view that we’re making a little bit of progress. Tomorrow’s another test for us.” Newcastle caretaker-manager Chris Hughton says the match is one which Robson would very much have enjoyed: ”It is a game he would have loved to have seen — both clubs meant so much to him. “Monday’s service was an emotional day for everybody, and I am sure tomorrow will be the same. “We have to make sure we give Sir Bobby the result I think he would have wanted.” Hughton will be without a number of senior players with Joey Barton (foot), Jonas Gutierrez (hamstring), Tamás Kadar (groin) and Shola Ameobi (foot) all definitely sidelined, while Danny Simpson is touch and go due to an ankle problem. Striker Marlon Harewood has joined the Magpies on a three-month loan from Aston Villa and is expected to go straight into the side. Hughton says the one-time Town loanee gives his attack greater variety: “We are delighted to get Marlon in. He will give us a different option. “If I look at what we have in the squad, we knew we had to bring in a centre-half [Blackburn’s Zurab Khizanishvili] and a centre-forward. We have been able to do that, and everything else we will assess as we go along.” The Blues narrowly have the edge over the Magpies historically, winning 16 times, (14 in the league) drawing on 14 (12) occasions and running out losers in 14 (14) meetings between the sides. Sir Bobby Robson was the manager of Newcastle the last time the sides met competitively, Marcus Bent scoring twice for the Blues in a 2-2 draw at St James’ Park in the Premier League in March 2002. Laurent Robert, who almost joined Town in the 2007/08 season, and Alan Shearer, who also missed a penalty, netted for the home team. At Portman Road earlier in the season, a Norberto Solano goal had given Robson’s side a 1-0 victory. The teams also met in the Carling Cup at St James’ Park that season with Darren Bent scoring his first senior goal in a 4-1 defeat. Alan Shearer (2), Laurent Robert and Shola Ameobi scored the Newcastle goals. More recently, in July 2004, the teams met at Portman Road in the Dale Roberts Testimonial, which the Blues won 2-1, Shefki Kuqi and Pablo Couñago netting for Town and Laurent Robert once again for Newcastle. Shola Ameobi came close to joining the Blues in the summer of 2008 but the move broke down after he failed a medical due to a hamstring injury and no member of the current Town squad has been a Newcastle player. Jack Colback is from the city and had a trial with his local club as a schoolboy before joining Sunderland, the club from whom he is currently on loan. Town have several former Sunderland players in their squad, in addition to boss Roy Keane, first team coach Tony Loughlan and fitness coach Antonio Gomez who were all on the management staff at the Stadium of Light. Carlos Edwards, Grant Leadbitter, Jon Stead, Colin Healy and Alan Quinn (loan) have all played for the Magpies’ greatest rivals. New Toon loanee Marlon Harewood spent time on loan with the Blues during the 1998/99 season, scoring one goal in five starts and one sub appearance. Manchester United's Danny Simpson, who is currently on loan at St James’ Park, spent time on loan with the Blues during 2007/08. The game is being shown live on BBC2 from 5.05pm and is also on the BBC website for UK users. Fans abroad may also be able to watch the game on TV. A crowd of around 27,000 is expected with no cash turnstiles in operation. Fans who failed to pick up a copy of the Sir Bobby Robson tribute magazine given out earlier in the season may collect one from outside Planet Blue before the game, while fundraising wristbands and scarves will be on sale in the club shop. Saturday’s referee is Select Group official Mike Jones, who has shown 14 yellow and no red cards in five games so far this season. Saturday’s match is Jones’s first outside the Premier League this season, aside from the midweek Carling Cup tie between Chelsea and QPR. Jones is best remembered by Town fans for being the referee at Elland Road in April 2007 when the Blues effectively relegated Leeds to League One and the game was held up for 30 minutes due to a pitch invasion by home supporters. The Chester-based official’s most recent Town match was the 0-0 draw at Sheffield Wednesday a year ago this week in which he failed to remove his cards from his pocket. Squad from: R Wright, Lee-Barrett, Rosenior, Delaney, D Wright, Bruce, Smith, Balkestein, Leadbitter, Quinn, Colback, Healy, Trotter, Martin, Edwards, Peters, Couñago, Priskin, Walters, Stead.
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