Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Town Out for Second Away Win at Cardiff
Tuesday, 21st Oct 2014 06:00

Top-six Town visit Cardiff City tonight looking for their second away win of the season. Manager Mick McCarthy says that although he’s targeting all three points, he wouldn’t be too disappointed to pick up a fourth successive draw.

The Blues - whose last away defeat was at Reading on August 16th - have generally taken the game to the opposition on their travels this season and have been rewarded with a victory at Wigan and draws at Derby, Birmingham, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, where only a last-gasp equaliser prevented Town from taking all three points.

“You do that to try and put them on the back foot,” McCarthy said. “But a draw away from home, especially at places like Cardiff, Wigan, Derby or Sheffield Wednesday, they’re all good points. I wouldn’t baulk at a point now. But we’re going to Cardiff trying to win the game.”

The Town boss expects to have skipper Luke Chambers, midfielder Teddy Bishop and top scorer Daryl Murphy available again with the trio having returned to training yesterday after missing the 1-1 draw with Blackburn.

Luke Hyam will again be absent due to a hamstring problem but is due to return to training on Thursday and could be available for Huddersfield’s visit to Portman Road on Saturday.

McCarthy is likely to shuffle his pack to some extent with regulars returning and one or two players perhaps not currently fit enough to play two games in four days.

Dean Gerken will continue in goal with Jonny Parr at right-back and Tyrone Mings on the left. Captain Chambers seems likely to return alongside Christophe Berra at the centre of the defence with Tommy Smith dropping to the bench.

In midfield, McCarthy may consider bringing in the fresher legs of Teddy Bishop for Kevin Bru, although the Mauritius international was one of the Blues’ top performers at the weekend. Cole Skuse and Wales international Jonny Williams look set to continue in the other two midfield roles.

If fit, Daryl Murphy will return up front in place of Stephen Hunt - who was playing his first game of the season at the weekend following a spell out with a calf injury - alongside Conor Sammon and David McGoldrick.

Russell Slade was formally appointed Cardiff’s new manager a fortnight ago after a period as a consultant following his resignation as Leyton Orient boss last month and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Bluebirds exit.

On Saturday, the 54-year-old got off to a confidence-boosting winning start as the Welshmen defeated Nottingham Forest 2-1 at home.


“He would have been delighted with the win,” McCarthy said. “Especially against Nottingham Forest, who were unbeaten.”

Despite their current position of 12th, Cardiff are only four points behind the Blues in sixth and McCarthy believes they have a squad capable of still making a challenge for promotion.

“Without a doubt,” he insisted. “When the teams came down and you looked at the squads that they’d got, I know Fulham got shot of a lot of players, Norwich have still got the strongest squad and I think Cardiff have got a really good squad of players.

“I don’t know whether they’ve got injuries, we all have to suffer those, but they’ve got a bigger squad to cope with those than we have.

“The three teams that came down have got good squads, still. And Fulham aren’t out of it yet because they’re starting to pick up results and if you get a bit of momentum with a good squad then you’ll be flying. Cardiff are a real threat for the promotion places, still.”

He added: “I know they got relegated but they’ve still got a really good squad of players. You think of the players that they’ve got and the players that they’ve signed, they’ve still got the remains of a good squad and have taken other players in.

“They’ve got a new manager and you always get a lift from that, which is always nice. They’ve got a good stadium there, they’ve got a good crowd when they get behind them and they beat Nottingham Forest on Saturday, who were unbeaten, and that just gives them a real lift.

“And they’ve got a recent history of doing well in this league. There’s an expectancy there that they should be in the top six, top two. I just think that if they get the right bloke there in charge, he can get them going.”

The Town boss has a lot of time for his opposite number, who he believes was due a shot at a bigger job: “I’m so delighted for Russell Slade that he’s got a chance at a club like Cardiff with the squad like he’s got because he’s put the hard yards in at Yeovil and at Orient.

“I know him, us football managers kind of know each other from being on the scene. I’ve always found him to be a really nice fella, he’s a gentleman. People who have played for him speak highly of him and whenever I meet him and speak to him he’s a really good guy.”

Slade is expecting a difficult game, having faced the Blues in pre-season while with his previous club Orient, the sides drawing 1-1 at Brisbane Road a week prior to the start of the campaign proper.

“Tuesday is going to be a very difficult game again, because Ipswich went to Forest and nearly won. Forest equalised very late on against them,” he told Cardiff’s official site.

“I know Mick’s team, because I played against them in pre-season. They’re tough to beat, they’re very organised and we’ve got a lot of work to do before Tuesday if we’re going to pull off a result against Ipswich, there’s no doubt about that.”

On-loan West Ham man Ravel Morrison is a big doubt, due to a knee ligament problem, while the England U21 man has also been suffering from a virus.

Left-back Fabio picked up an injury ahead of the win against Forest, while another full-back, Declan John, is another doubt with a hamstring problem.

Striker Federico Macheda came off with cramp at the weekend but is expected to be fine, however, former Canary Tom Adeyemi is set to miss out with a hamstring injury. Ben Turner and Matthew Connolly are not yet ready to return to first-team action.

Town have the upper hand historically, winning 20 (18 in the league), drawing 12 (12) and losing 11 (10). Curiously, the Welsh club have only ever beaten the Blues by a single goal, while Town have won six of the last nine games between the teams and haven't been beaten on Cardiff territory since 2007, a run of five matches.

The teams last met at the Cardiff City Stadium in the January of the Bluebirds’ 2012/13 Championship-winning season, the game ending in a 0-0 draw.

The Blues deserved the point against the division’s leaders with midfielder Guirane N’Daw coming closest the breaking the deadlock with a 25-yard first-half strike which hit the post.

At Portman Road in the previous October, Cardiff came from behind to beat the Blues 2-1 to reclaim top spot.

Debutant DJ Campbell put Town in front just before half-time, although having clearly used his hand, but two second-half goals from Heidar Helguson won the points for the Bluebirds.

No member of either squad has played for the opposition, but Blues coach and former left-back Mark Kennedy joined Town from Cardiff in the summer of 2010 for £75,000 and Icelandic Bluebirds midfielder Aron Gunnarsson had a trial with the Town academy when a schoolboy.

Tonight’s referee is David Coote from Nottinghamshire, who has shown seven yellow cards and no reds in his two games so far this season.

Coote’s last Town game was the 3-1 home defeat to Wigan in March in which he booked two players from each side.

Squad from: Gerken, Bialkowski, Parr, Mings, Chambers, Berra, Smith, Clarke, Skuse, Bishop, Bru, Tabb, Ambrose, Collison, Williams, Anderson, Hunt, Henshall, Stewart, McGoldrick, Murphy, Sammon, Bajner.


Photo: Action Images



Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.



Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 06:57 - Oct 21
Get into 'em! Let's continue this generally more positive style we've shown of late.
2

bluemikey100 added 07:18 - Oct 21
need a win tnite after draw sat
2

KiwiTractor added 08:05 - Oct 21
Good luck lads. Lets bring home the points.
2

TimmyH added 10:37 - Oct 21
Mick's dropping back into the 'point' is good away from home mentality - after dropping points in the last 2 games I feel we have to go looking for a win particularly as we have a good record there - and let's hope we finish the game not defending for our life.
-4

walberswicks added 12:15 - Oct 21
Lets get a point so we can drop back into the chasing pack where there isn't too much pressure.
-6

horsehollerer added 12:22 - Oct 21
TimmyH .... no he's not, he said he'll be "targeting all three points". You just chose to focus on the part where Mick implied that if we fall just short of winning he'd be happy with a point. And so would I.
5

paulthebluealien added 12:33 - Oct 21
COYB.
1

jpring89 added 13:29 - Oct 21
as long as we dont make a slow start to this 1 and go a goal down in first 25 mins i cant see us losing this. 1-3 to us :)
0

Walk_the_Wark added 13:44 - Oct 21
Not bothered unless we go in front and McCarthy puts 10 men behind the ball. THIS DOES NOT WORK. McCarthy has been stung twice- hopefully even he has the brains to not make the same mistake a third time..
-2

Walk_the_Wark added 13:44 - Oct 21
Not bothered unless we go in front and McCarthy puts 10 men behind the ball. THIS DOES NOT WORK. McCarthy has been stung twice- hopefully even he has the brains to not make the same mistake a third time..
-5

paulcooperisgod added 14:39 - Oct 21
go for the win flood them from the kick off get a couple of goals in the first 20 mins
2

dubblue added 14:41 - Oct 21
looks like we have a stronger team tonight so here's hoping for a victory.
2

brassy added 15:29 - Oct 21
weather permitting good luck tonite lads,COYB.
0

ChrisL_ITFC added 17:47 - Oct 21
Gerken
Parr
Chambers
Berra
Mings
Skuse
Anderson
Tabb
Williams
Murphy
McGoldrick

With a bench of

Bialkowski
Smith
Bru
Bishop
Hunt
Bajner
Sammon
0

Tonyitfc82 added 17:50 - Oct 21
I dont care what half of you say on here. A draw at Cardiff will be a good result. Points all add up at the end of the season. Dont keep looking at the table just yet.

3-1 to town by the way!!!!
1

jas0999 added 18:23 - Oct 21
If we want to stay in the play off hunt, four draws wouldn't be acceptable. If we had beaten Blackburn or held on at Nottingham then a draw tonight would be okay. But four points from twelve is mid table form at best. After Saturday we need to win.
2

warktheline added 18:23 - Oct 21
That's Timmy all over, focus on anything negative he can pin on Mick.COYB
0

afrodids added 18:42 - Oct 21
i want a win tonight after dropping points in the last 2 games COYB all 3 points please :)
0

TimmyH added 19:42 - Oct 21
Totally agree @jas0999, part of my point really I made earlier - nice to see I've landed a 170lb warktheline (straight into the landing net).
1

Theipswich added 20:31 - Oct 21
Ipswich is a very nice club but the only problem is that when ipswich score they think they won the match and just stop playing like they played at the start of the match.
1

oldegold added 20:34 - Oct 21
I agree completely totally with TheIpswich!
1

oldegold added 20:36 - Oct 21
I see Cardiff have already equalized ! MM probably had the team behind the ball after Murphy scored ......after 29 minutes already to defend the lead
2

Theipswich added 20:43 - Oct 21
Very good oldegold
0


You need to login in order to post your comments

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls

About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Advertising
© TWTD 1995-2024