Town boss Mick McCarthy has said he’s considering making changes to his team for Wednesday’s visit to Leeds United. The Blues boss remains without the injured Teddy Bishop, Noel and Stephen Hunt, Darren Ambrose, David McGoldrick and Luke Hyam.

“I don’t think Sunday, then Wednesday at Elland Road and getting back at 2am on Thursday morning and then playing on Saturday against Brentford is conducive to having the same 10 outfield players playing and having to do that shift,” McCarthy said.

“I’ve got a good squad, but it’s not the biggest, and I’m considering making changes for it.”

He says midfielder Bishop should be back for Saturday’s home game against Brentford having hurt his ankle in training towards the end of last week.

“We’re hoping he’ll be OK for Saturday,” the Blues manager added. “That was a shame for him and for all of us because he’s a good player. He just blocked a shot and it opened his ankle up. Hopefully Saturday.”

Noel Hunt is expected to miss the regular season with the medial knee ligament injury he sustained at Fulham, while Stephen Hunt and Darren Ambrose have hamstring problems.

Luke Hyam has a knee injury and David McGoldrick remains on the sidelines with his thigh problem.

“None of them are fit,” McCarthy continued. “Noel’s obviously on crutches, Stephen’s getting back, Darren’s not fit. Didzy’s not fit and Luke Hyam’s not fit.”

He says he privately always expected McGoldrick to out for several weeks: “I’ll be honest, I knew it was going to be longer than I said at the start of it because I was trying to get strikers in on loan, so it would have been bonkers of me to announce to the world that I’ve got a striker that might be out for five or six weeks.

“You’ll have to forgive me for telling a small, white porky-pie there, but that’s the way it is, that’s the business.

“Didzy is probably looking at the Middlesbrough game, he’s hoping to get back training quick but whether we can get enough training into him to have him involved, who knows. It might be after the international break.”

McCarthy confirmed that 17-year-old midfielder Kundai Benyu, who was on the bench at Norwich, will again travel with the squad.

Leeds will be without midfielder Rodolph Austin, due to a thigh strain. Central defender Giuseppe Bellusci is back from a ban, while striker Steve Morison could return having been out with a groin injury. However, midfielders Granddi Ngoyi (thigh) and Tommaso Bianchi (knee) are again expected to miss out.

Meanwhile, former Town coach and skipper Tony Mowbray has been appointed the new manager of League One Coventry City, signing a deal until the end of the season.

Photo: Action Images

alliedaz added 14:48 - Mar 3 well said tr11blu we think the same
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battyblue added 14:59 - Mar 3 Darren Ambrose was supposed to have a slight ham string , mcgoldrick mick said in the beginning he had turned his ankle don't look Mick knows much about injuries or tactics at the mo.
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itfc1981 added 15:10 - Mar 3 http://www.twtd.co.uk/members/itfc1981/polls/1944/should-parr-play-at-right-back
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donnelly78 added 15:17 - Mar 3 Me for 1 don't think tabb shouldn't be starting or be on the bench he is not good enough sorry but true. Tommy needs to be put on the bench he has not had a good game in late I think he is a good player but it is not going for him at the moment. And we need to keep the ball on the floor and stop hoofing the ball up the pitch. 433 is how we should start. COUB 3 points Wednesday plz.

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bluesince84 added 15:22 - Mar 3 Do 442 with tab starting then ....... Will believe anything different when I see it
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nytractorboy added 15:25 - Mar 3 I normally don't comment on here as I prefer to mumble under my breath and read what others think, but I'm concerned about how our season might end up. Like a few of you I don't see how we can keep persevering with Chambers at RB and Smith in the middle. I like Smith but he has not looked comfortable in weeks. We looked a lot more solid with Berra and Chambers in the middle. I also liked the experiment with Mings at LB and Parr LM and would love to see more of that! Do we have a RB? That is an area that concerns me. Midfield has produced little all year. I like Bishop (when fit) and Bru. I think Skuse does all the little things quite well and I thought Stephen Hunt added a threat when he was in. I'd also like to see more of Ambrose for his experience. Up front Murphy seems to have gone off the boil since Dids has been out but Freddie Sears looks sharp. As for the recent loans - a midfielder who can't get in Millwall reserves and a forward who can't get into Blackburn's reserves does not fill me with confidence! Wood might be good though. With it so tight at the top and with a few clubs making some decent runs (Norwich, Watford and Wolves) I am concerned we might miss out here. Am I alone?

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Witchesaswell added 15:28 - Mar 3 The bizarre thing about a player out of form like Tommy Smith is he needs a break but dropping him will probably dent the confidence even more! Though he did really well when returning after being dropped earlier in the season so let's try it again. I'm definitely in the 4-3-3 formation camp and would really like to see Sears working in the channels just behind Murphy and Wood, I think he could do a great job there assisting the midfield when necessary but being close enough to make a difference up front. 6th at the moment is a rather precarious spot to be in and a return to winning ways asap is needed to not slip out of the playoff spots. Leeds can either be really good or really bad this season according to a friend of mine so let's hope it's the latter tomorrow night!

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JackITFC96 added 15:37 - Mar 3 still no mention of stewart what has he done wrong?
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brittaniaman added 16:00 - Mar 3 Hooray for the change we Hope ???? Even Norwich Fans were taking the Pee out of us for our Hoofball Tactics after the game !! Glad at long last that Taylor has gone off for the Lead story Phil !! Even Stuart Watson has had nothing to say on Twitter after the Norwich game ??
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bluefeast added 16:11 - Mar 3 We all need to relax and let MM get on with what hes doing ,not much wrong being 3 or 4 points off automatic promotion with 12 games left. Frankly i would of taken being 6 points off a play off spot at this stage back in August. Im the worst on here as an emotional nightmare when we lose ,but im trying very hard to be realistic....
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lduly10 added 16:18 - Mar 3 How can you not underestimate Skuse' role? He's very poor. How many opportunities have we had to bring in a ball playing holding midfielder? Or a holding midfielder that can pass forwards at least?
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MedwayTractor added 16:30 - Mar 3 bluefeast: 6 points off the top looks good on paper. The down-side is that our remaining fixtures include 5 games against the other top sides, a thin squad with niggling injuries to the better players and a one dimensional & predictable playing style. I am not filled with confidence that we are sure of a play-off place, let alone a top two finish, especially as Derby, Watford & the budgies are all on such good runs. Having said all that, however, two wins against Leeds & Brentford will put a different complexion on it, we will have 66 points. 76 points (usually less) has always been enough for 6th place, so 3 wins & a draw from the last 10 games should do it. If we can do that, it's down to the annual lottery which we call the play-offs. I'd prefer 3rd or 4th, as we would have the second leg semi-final at home. See you at Wembley!

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Lightningboy added 16:36 - Mar 3 "Considering changes"?...wake up and smell the coffee Mick. Parr in at RB & Chambers into the middle for Smith are serious no-brainers.
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tractorboybig added 16:47 - Mar 3 Not much to change really. no service to murphy. sears not good enough. no flair in midfield. pointless the back four passing to the midield as no flair,might as well hoof it. ( sorry long ball game) Leeds rubbing their hands in glee.
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donnelly78 added 17:12 - Mar 3 Sears not good enough???? Dont talk sh#t tractorboybig.
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bluefeast added 17:48 - Mar 3 Our season in terms of results and position in the table have been outstanding. MM has worked a miracle. However not strengthening our team in January will haunt us. Look now ,small squad ,iffy emergency loan signings ,injuries to key players and so on. However our group of players back each other and go to war each week ,that counts for something. I don't know why we all moan , our season is no different really so far to the rest of the top 6 sides in terms of results ,there fans dont moan like we do. Derby for what its worth have 10000 fans more at home than we do. All of the top 8 clubs have each other to play in some guise or another so we are not alone. Will they be really looking forward to playing us ,i think not. Judge and Jury time in May ,not now. COYB

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blueboy1981 added 18:00 - Mar 3 ........ with the forthcoming games (god help us) going for a point will serve no purpose at this stage, we need points, not just a single point. If we don't want to see this season fritter away from this point onwards - PLEASE GO OUT TO WIN GAMES. If we fail in so doing, then at least we will have given it our best shot from this point until the death. The end of season will now be here before we blink twice - let's go for it while we have limited time left. We had it all there for the taking a few weeks back, and I don't think we will have a better chance to get back to the Premiership (and the money) for some foreseeable time. No one will be able to say anything other than we didn't take the chance we had. SINGLE POINTS ARE NO GOOD NOW MICHAEL. ( just stating a point) - so please don't bother to tell me he won't read this, or take any notice ....... I KNOW THAT.

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therein61 added 18:06 - Mar 3 A balanced back four is a must for the run in! looks like Tommy would be the player dropped to accommodate the skipper going inside we are missing the creativity that Didz and Teddy bring to the side and as a result we have too many just hoofing the ball(skipper included!) and not taking on the responsibility that senior pros are expected to do, we still have a great chance to be in the mix at the end of the season the gap in points to auto promotion is small enough to(I hope) give the chosen x1 get 3 points at Leeds coybs.

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blueboy1981 added 18:12 - Mar 3 ......... no wonder we have tired defenders i.e Smith - they've been under the cosh all season, continuously playing with a square peg in a round hole i.e Chambers - as one of the four. Not forgetting that they have had a non existant midfield in front of them - that's why we have started conceding goals - THEY ARE KNACKERED. Take a bow DEFENCE - you have performed very well under such conditions. You have been let down to be honest.

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nysully added 18:16 - Mar 3 I like most agree that watching Tommy and Luke "passing" the ball to each other like it is a hand grenade has to stop, round pegs etc. MM strength is in keeping his team together rather than a master tactician. The first derby this year was far worse that last Sunday in my opinion and somehow MM rallied the troops. We have 12 matches remaining, the 12 matches after the Derby in August we took 23 of possible 36 points. If MM can do that again we will have 83 points which in my opinion could give us a top two finish given the parity in the league this year.

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Gcon added 18:23 - Mar 3 McGoldrick said on twitter he's out for 10 weeks. we really miss him.
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battyblue added 18:29 - Mar 3 our only player who ran at Norwich with the ball and took on defenders was Sears and Parr to some extent when he at last came on,there were times when Skuse for example picked up a pass with fifteen or twenty meters of space in front of him to carry the ball forward and what did he do .....lob it into the box for it to come straight back out again virtually no one runs at defenders or get to the bye lines to pull balls back as all other top eight teams do,most are scared to go over the half way line with the ball,with the right service Sears would score loads but Mick needs to change his approach it will soon be to late.but he is stubben as a mule so cant see our wish happening just yet.

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blueboy1981 added 18:31 - Mar 3 .......... when results tail of somewhat - few players are keen to leave the treatment table !!!! Not all of them are Terry Butcher's, Matt Holland's, Tony Mowbray's etc; etc; - all of who would be champing at the bit to get back out there - whatever the circumstances.
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karls_dad added 19:00 - Mar 3 MM wants to make changes? what actually play football and not hoofball, now theres a thought? this season has gone so flat for us, we had such high hopes, well i did! but the team selection, the lack of strenghtening when we could have!, a finish around 10th looks the more likely for us, oh so sad when it could have been soo good!
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carsey added 19:27 - Mar 3 ITFC1981 - along with many others I have voted on the Parr for RB poll and while I doubt MM reads or even cares about this site if he does I fear the way we all think will only make him more stubborn and force him to do the opposite. 4 3 3 is the way to go. Attack the opposition. Make them play against us and force them to defend. We have done it during the season we should do it again.

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