McCarthy Has Selection Dilemmas for Watford's Visit Friday, 7th Nov 2014 16:08 Town boss Mick McCarthy has selection dilemmas ahead of Saturday’s home game against Watford with Jonny Williams, Jonny Parr and Teddy Bishop all back in training after injuries. Only keeper Dean Gerken and midfielder Cole Skuse remain in the treatment room, while Luke Hyam is banned for one game having picked up his fifth booking of the season in the 2-1 victory over Wolves on Tuesday. Parr and Bishop have been out with groin problems and Williams with a calf injury, while Gerken and Skuse are expected back after the international break which follows Saturday’s game and which McCarthy says will come at the right time. “We’ve used fewer players than anybody else, that was the stat the other week,” he said. “That doesn’t surprise me and everybody that’s played, they really work hard. Maybe it was just taking its toll so a break is no hardship at all.” While Town, who are fifth, have used the fewest players, third-placed Watford have used the most managers with current incumbent Slavisa Jokanovic their fourth of the campaign. “Maybe that’s the way forward!” McCarthy joked. “It was sad with Oscar Garcia because he was poorly and I’m not making fun of that at all because I don’t want to see that with any manager. “They’re still up there and they’ve changed from last year. With Beppe Sannino they were 3-5-2 and they’ve gone back to 4-3-3. They’ve got good players, they’ve got really competent players in that squad.” Watford have been somewhat of a bogey side for Town in recent years, the Blues having won just one of the last 19 games between the teams stretching back to 2004. The 1-0 win at Vicarage Road in August 2012, courtesy of a 90th-minute Michael Chopra goal, ended a 15-match run without a victory against the Hertfordshire side, while Town last beat the Hornets at Portman Road back in March 2004 when Dean Bowditch scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win. “So what? I don’t get all that hoodoo stuff,” McCarthy insisted. “As a player there have been places where I’ve gone and played really well and places where I didn’t. “That’s generally down to the opposition that’s playing against me not the fact that they had any hoodoo over me. But if there is one, I think it’s a good time to break that. “I don’t know what results we’ve had against them, have we beaten them since I’ve been here? No? Maybe there is one then, who knows!” The Town boss will continue with Bartosz Bialkowski in goal in Gerken’s absence with 18-year-old Michael Crowe the sub keeper on the bench. McCarthy has a decision to make defensively with Parr available again after missing the last two matches. Despite the Norwegian's return, the Town manager may opt to stick with the more solid backline which saw his side to back to back wins at Blackpool and against Wolves with skipper Luke Chambers at right-back and Christophe Berra and Tommy Smith at the centre of the defence and Tyrone Mings on the left. With regular defensive midfield duo Hyam and Skuse both out, McCarthy could play Jay Tabb and Kevin Bru in the two deeper midfield roles with Jonny Williams probably getting the nod for the more attacking position rather than Teddy Bishop or Paul Anderson, who are likely to join Darren Ambrose on the bench. Stephen Hunt will hope to keep his place in the front three alongside Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick, although his manager may question whether the 33-year-old is up to three games in eight days. If not, Conor Sammon will start in his place. Watford boss Jokanvic told the official Hornets site that he is expecting a hard match: “It’s going to be a very tough, very physical game. “They try to use a similar structure to what we are using. I expect they are going to press us, they are going to be very aggressive, and now we must show the same level of aggression and try to play football on the floor. “We are in the Championship, all the teams have some weaknesses, my team is the same. We are going to try and find a situation where we can be dangerous for them.” Watford have injury concerns regarding on-loan Norwich City defender Sebastien Bassong and midfielder Gianni Munari, who missed Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Birmingham due to calf and groin problems respectively. Definitely out are Gabriele Angella (ankle), Almen Abdi (shoulder) and Gabriel Tamas (knee). In April at Vicarage Road, Town’s 2013/14 play-off hopes suffered a blow as they were beaten 3-1 by Watford. The Hornets, who were outsiders for the top six themselves, were ahead through Albert Riera at the break, but Anthony Wordsworth equalised five minutes after the restart. However, two goals in three minutes from Gabriel Angella and Lewis McGugan sealed the three points for the home side. At Portman Road in December, David McGoldrick netted Town’s first penalty of the season, but Troy Deeney equalised as the sides drew 1-1. McGoldrick put Town ahead in the 73rd minute after Gabriele Angella had handled, but Deeney hit back nine minutes from time. Historically, Watford just edge it having won 26 games (25 in the league), the Blues 25 (22), with 17 (17) ending in draws. Midfielder Keith Andrews, who is on loan with the Hornets from Bolton, is the only player in either squad to have represented the opposition having been on loan with the Blues during the first half of the 2011/12 season, scoring nine goals in 19 starts and one sub appearance. Watford goalkeeper-coach Alec Chamberlain was a youth player with the Blues but never made a first team appearance, while Town youth development coach Steve Foley spent time coaching at Vicarage Road earlier in his career. Town midfielder Jack Collison was born in Watford. Season ticket holders are able to purchase up to four additional tickets at reduced prices via Planet Blue until 1.30pm on the day of the game or ITFC Direct at £1 for under-16s, £8 for seniors, students and under-20s and £10 for adults. More details on the club site. It’s a year on Sunday since well-known Town fan Michael Kemp died aged 55 after the game at Blackpool and his friends are staging a minute’s applause in his memory in the 55th minute of tomorrow’s match. Town are marking Remembrance Day in a number of ways, including holding a minute’s silence prior to kick-off with the players joined on the pitch by 16 members of the 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery from Colchester. A member of the regiment will also lead the teams out, carrying the match ball, while the players will be wearing shirts bearing poppies, which will later be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Royal British Legion. Saturday’s referee is Eddie Ilderton from Tyne and Wear, who has shown 32 yellow cards and no reds in 11 games so far this season. Ilderton’s most recent Town match was the 1-0 defeat at Millwall in January in which he booked then-Blues skipper Carlos Edwards, Paul Taylor and one home player. Squad from: Bialkowski, Crowe, Chambers (c), Parr, Mings, Berra, Smith, Clarke, Tabb, Bru, Williams, Bishop, Anderson, Henshall, Stewart, Ambrose, Hunt, McGoldrick, Murphy, Sammon, Bajner.
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