McCarthy Without Four For Season Opener Friday, 8th Aug 2014 15:15 Manager Mick McCarthy is without four members of his first-team squad for tomorrow’s opening game of the season against Fulham, which is being shown live on Sky (KO 5.15pm). Central defender Tommy Smith is OK after missing last week’s friendly draw at Leyton Orient, but Paul Anderson (hamstring), Jonny Parr (groin), Stephen Hunt (calf) and Cameron Stewart (broken jaw) all miss out against the Cottagers. Smith was absent for the trip to Brisbane Road with a groin problem but was always expected to be fit for Saturday. “Tommy’s fit, he was always going to be fine,” McCarthy said. “Jonny Parr’s not fit, Paul Anderson’s not fit, neither are Hunty and Cameron Stewart. So four of the 20 outfield players that I’ve got are out injured.” McCarthy says summer signing Stewart is understandably gutted having suffered his injury late on against the O’s: “Of course he is, and we are too, but more so for him. “I’ve done the same, you move to another club and you get an injury, something that can’t be helped and requires a certain amount of time to heal. “He’ll just have to keep training, keep his fitness up and get ready for six weeks’ time. It’s sad for him.” With fellow wingers Hunt and Anderson also injured, the Town boss admits he’s short of options in that area of his side: “We seem to have a glut of wide players who are injured. I don’t know why, we haven’t done anything unusual.” McCarthy admits that he still gets excited at the start of a new season: “I do get butterflies still. Someone asked me that the other day, ‘when do you get excited for the new season, is it when you come back for pre-season training?’. “Is it heck! It’s now, tomorrow when we turn up and I’m suited and booted and ready for the new season. That’s when it really kicks in that it’s going to start. “The butterflies will be there, I sincerely hope they will be because I never want to take them for granted.” He’s says the home game against Fulham is as good a way as any to start the campaign: “It’s a great fixture. We could have been travelling for seven hours. We could have been on our way up the M6 by now like we normally are! “It’s nice to be at home. It’s a nice fixture bearing in mind it’s a Premier League club from last season that’s coming down. And it’s attracted a lot of interest with it being live on Sky.” McCarthy, who signed a new three-year deal with Town in the summer, expects the visitors to be amongst the challengers for automatic promotion. “Fulham have come down from the Premier League after many years at that level but they have a squad that looks strong enough to give them a good chance of bouncing back at the first attempt, and I’m expect them to be in contention for automatic promotion. “We know it’s going to be real test for us. Looking at our fixtures for August, we’ve certainly got a challenging month ahead. “It’s a start that is similar to last year in that we face two of the clubs that have come down from the Premier League, with Norwich here in two weeks. “The Championship is a gruelling, testing league. There is no let-up. You have to be right at it, every game, every week or you’ll get found out.” The Town boss is in no doubt about where he is hoping the Blues will finish come May: “While Fulham will be targeting automatic promotion, we’re looking to build on the success we had last year and that means finishing in the top six. "That is the next step for us. That is the challenge. We’ll find out if we are good enough.” McCarthy, who says there are no imminent ins or outs at Portman Road at present - “None coming in, none going out” - despite striker Paul Taylor having been made available for loan or transfer, is likely to stick with Dean Gerken in goal, despite new signing Bartosz Bialkowski impressing during pre-season. Tyrone Mings is expected to come in for the departed Aaron Cresswell at left-back with new addition Parr sidelined. Skipper Luke Chambers seems favourite to start at right-back with Smith and Christophe Berra at the heart of the defence. In central midfield, Cole Skuse is again set to partner Luke Hyam with Jay Tabb looking likely to be on the left, having impressed at Orient and with McCarthy’s wide options limited. That could see Elliott Hewitt start on the right, as he did at Brisbane Road. Up front, Daryl Murphy is a certain starter but McCarthy has options regarding his partner. David McGoldrick seems set for a place on the bench as he continues his comeback from his knee injuries with Frank Nouble, new signing Balint Bajner and Jack Marriott the alternatives to partner Murphy. Having shown good form in front of goal since joining the Blues, initially on trial, Big Hungarian Bajner might well get the nod, despite a lack of match fitness, before making way for McGoldrick, Nouble or Marriott in the second half. Such have been the changes at Fulham over the last year that no one who featured in last season's opening match is expected to be involved against the Blues. Striker Adam Taggart is out with a lower abdominal problem, while wantaway trio Maarten Stekelenburg, Kostas Mitroglou and Bryan Ruiz are not expected to make the trip. Town and the Cottagers last met in the Premier League in the Blues 2001/02 relegation campaign. At Portman Road in the January, a 10th minute goal from Marcus Bent was enough to win Town three points which took them out of the bottom three. Fulham had a late flurry but created little in the way of clear-cut chances in an attacking game played in soaking wet conditions, much like the match earlier in the season at Craven Cottage. That game, played in the October, ended 1-1 with Town unable to break down a Fulham side which was down to 10 men for most of the game. Luis Boa Morte saw red just before half-time for a dive, although in truth he should have gone earlier for an elbow on Fabian Wilnis. Town, who lost Finidi George to a broken cheekbone early on, had already gone behind to a Barry Hayles goal with the equaliser from Jermaine Wright coming in the second half. Historically, the sides have met relatively rarely with the Blues victorious on six occasions (four in the league), Fulham on eight (seven) and with seven (five) games ending in draws. The Whites' last victory over the Blues was the famous 10-1 victory at Craven Cottage on Boxing Day 1963. Ex-Town loanee Ryan Tunnicliffe joined the Cottagers last January from Manchester United after ending his spell at Portman Road early, while former Blue Brian Talbot is a scout at Craven Cottage, where he briefly played late on in his career. Fans travelling by train from London should note that there are engineering works on Saturday with replacement buses on some services. Saturday’s referee is Stephen Martin from Staffordshire, who showed 55 yellow and two red cards in 36 games last season. Martin’s most recent Town match was the 2-0 home victory over Brighton last September he booked only one visiting player. Squad from: Gerken, Bialkowski, Chambers, Mings, Smith, Berra, Clarke, Skuse, Hyam, Bru, Wordsworth, Bishop, Tabb, Hewitt, Henshall, Murphy, Bajner, Nouble, McGoldrick, Marriott.
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