 Tuesday, 26th Oct 2010 08:50 Midfielder Luke Hyam looks set to be one of a number of young players coming into Roy Keane’s squad for this evening’s Carling Cup fourth round tie against Northampton at Portman Road (KO 7.45pm). The Blues are without cup-tied duo Jake Livermore and Jack Colback, while an unnamed player is a doubt with an injury suffered in training on Sunday. Boss Roy Keane says Hyam is very much in his thoughts having been left out of the last couple of games: “Luke can come back into it, he’s been a bit unlucky to miss out the last week or two but I think he needed that break. One or two other players will get an opportunity. “We used a lot of the younger players in the earlier rounds because we were forced to by injuries, we didn’t even have enough players on the bench for one of the games. “We’ll look at the squad in the morning and we’ll play it by ear. It’s a game that we want to win but the younger boys haven’t let us down, so if we play Reggie or Luke instead of Jack or Jake, I’ll be very comfortable with it. “Reggie did very, very well in the last game at Millwall. Young Ronan Murray came on in the first round and scored an important goal for us. “We want to get a victory but we also want to give these boys an opportunity. If you don’t throw these boys in you’ll never learn about them. You can watch them every day in training or in the reserves but we’ve got to give these boys a chance.” Keane says a couple of players suffered injury problems over the weekend with an unnamed player considered a significant doubt: “There’s one, I don’t want to say who it is, he picked up an injury in training on Sunday.” The Town manager says his team won’t take the League Two opposition lightly: “We’re expecting a very tough game. They’ll come and they’ll deal with the ball, they like to play. It’s set up for a good game but we certainly have to take our chances if we get them because if we don’t we’ll get punished. “I’m not sure about outside the club, but amongst the players, myself and the staff we’re quite upbeat. We don’t like losing football matches but you’ve got to take your medicine sometimes and we’ve got a couple of home games coming up and a chance for us to bounce back. I’m looking forward to the game.” Keane says his side have had a difficult Carling Cup campaign up to now with matches at Exeter and Crewe going to extra time, then a 90-minute victory at Millwall in the last round: “We’ve had some tough games so far. We’re glad to have a home tie and we’re looking forward to it. It’s a chance to bounce back from three league defeats. “It’s an opportunity to get to a quarter-final and our younger players in particular should enjoy the challenge. We can talk about the pressure, but if you want to become a top player or manager you’ve got to deal with that, you’ve got to deal with the expectations and the disappointments.” Keane says Northampton boss Ian Sampson will be pleased to have a rest from league fixtures after five successive defeats which have seen his side drop to 91st in the league: “I’m sure he’s enjoying the cup run because both teams are going into the game glad to have a break from the league as their form has been disappointing. But as everyone knows, you don’t take your league form into cup competitions. “It’s about getting through to the next round and if we scrape through tomorrow night then we’ll accept it, but we’re hoping to put on a better performance particularly for our supporters because our last couple of home games haven’t been great.” Keane has Brian Murphy is in his thoughts to return in goal having been unlucky not to keep his place at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Murphy has so far been between the sticks in all Town’s Carling Cup matches and the Irishman will probably line-up against the Cobblers. Depending on whether he is the mystery injured player, Gareth McAuley is likely to continue in his regular centre-back role with Keane weighing up whether to rest Damien Delaney after two games in a week following his spell out with a thigh injury. The Blues boss may decide to leave his fellow Irishman out, allowing Tommy Smith to return to centre-half with Shane O’Connor perhaps coming in at left-back. Troy Brown, Jaime Peters, Tom Eastman or even Jack Ainsley are in the running for the right-back role. Keane will have to decide whether to continue with the central midfield three or move to a four-man midfield for the visit of the League Two side. With his options short due to Colback and Livermore being unavailable, the Town manager may choose to pair Hyam with one of David Norris or Grant Leadbitter in a central two. Reggie Lambe, back early from his spell away with Bermuda’s U20s, could be handed a wide role with one of Carlos Edwards or Andros Townsend dropping to the bench. Up front, Jason Scotland may be rested with Keane perhaps pairing Connor Wickham and Tamás Priskin, although Ronan Murray has impressed his manager with his performances from the bench in recent weeks. However, the Town boss may not feel the 19-year-old is yet ready for a start. Keane has confirmed that Argentinian midfielder Luciano Civelli won’t be involved but will be in the reserves side at Stevenage on Wednesday, while Alan Quinn is back in Ireland dealing with a family matter. Mark Kennedy (hamstring) and Darren O’Dea (knee) are sidelined for at least another few weeks with the on-loan Celtic man having seen a specialist last week and received the thumbs-up regarding his progress after his operation. The tie is Keane’s first home cup match with the Blues after seven away draws in succession in both cup competitions, five in the Carling Cup. Going back to Jim Magilton’s time as boss, the Blues had had eight away draws in a row starting with the Chelsea FA Cup trip in January 2009. Northampton, who sit second bottom of League Two ahead of Hereford only on goal difference after five successive defeats, expect to bring around 3,000 supporters to Portman Road. The Cobblers, who overcame Liverpool in the last round, have Dean Beckwith suspended after a recent sending off, while an appeal against John Johnson’s dismissal at Oxford United on Saturday has been unsuccessful. Strikers Tadhg Purcell (knee) and Courtney Herbert (leg) and midfielder Abdul Osman (calf) are all currently sidelined with injuries. Northampton boss Ian Sampson says the match is much-needed respite from their league woes: “I think in terms of having a couple of injuries and suspensions we could probably do without it but I think it’s the perfect game for us now. “There’s no pressure on us to do anything at all in this game, all the pressure is on Ipswich to go and get a result. “They’re a Championship team and they’ll be fully expected to beat us, so it’s a nice distraction from the pressures of the league that we’re under.” The last meeting between Town and Northampton was in the 1987/88 season, also in the League Cup, on that occasion at the second round stage. The Cobblers came away from the first leg at Portman Road with a 1-1 draw, Romeo Zondervan having scored for the Blues, but Town won 4-2 at the County Ground, Mich D’Avray (2), Graham Harbey and David Lowe netting for John Duncan’s men in a game which went to extra time. In the 1977/78 season the Blues won another second round tie, Trevor Whymark (2), Eric Gates, Paul Mariner and Clive Woods scoring the goals in a 5-0 win. Overall, the Blues have won 11 games between the teams (nine in the league), 10 (seven) have been draws with Northampton winning 10 (10). While Keane was the manager of Sunderland a Black Cats side including Márton Fülöp, Carlos Edwards and Grant Leadbitter almost lost a September 2008 second round Carling Cup tie against the Cobblers at the Stadium of Light. Two late, late Anthony Stokes goals saved the Premier League side’s blushes, before they won a penalty shoot-out 4-3. No current Town player has been with the Cobblers, while no one presently at Sixfields has played for the Blues, although their squad does include one-time Canary Leon McKenzie. Tuesday’s referee is Eddie Ilderton from Tyne and Wear, who has shown 24 yellow and two red cards in nine games so far this season. Ilderton’s last Town match was the Blues’ 2-1 FA Cup win at Blackpool in January in which he red-carded Tangerines pair Rob Edwards and Ian Evatt, as well as booking their team-mate Neal Eardley and Blues duo Arran Lee-Barrett and Connor Wickham. Squad from: Murphy, Fülöp, Lee-Barrett, Peters, Eastman, Brown, Ainsley, O’Connor, McAuley, Delaney, Smith, Hyam, Norris, Leadbitter, Healy, Townsend, Edwards, Lambe, Wickham, Priskin, Scotland, Murray.
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