Town boss Mick McCarthy has confirmed that Brett Pitman and Adam Webster have joined his already lengthy injury list but better news is that Grant Ward is fit for Tuesday’s home game against Brighton along with Teddy Bishop, while Josh Emmanuel and Leon Best will both start.

Pitman (knee and ankle), Webster (hamstring) and Ward (knee) all suffered their injuries in Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Leeds.

“Two of them are out, Pits, as you’d imagine, and Adam Webster with his hamstring,” McCarthy said.

“They’ve both just returned having had scans and we’ll see the extent of the damage, but neither will be fit for tomorrow night or Saturday. But Grant Ward is all right, he’s trained today.”

McCarthy confirmed that Bishop, who broke his nose in the home game against Aston Villa, will be in the squad.

“He’s wearing the protective mask, he’s got the Phantom of the Opera mask,” the Town boss added. “He’s having his nose reset tonight, that’s not the best preparation for anybody but he’s fit and he’s available and he’ll be in the squad.”

But Luke Varney remains sidelined with the hamstring problem he picked up in the 4-0 U23s victory over Leeds last Monday: “Luke Varney is another one, it’ll probably be after international break now.”

Loanee Jonny Williams is training with the squad but is not ready to be included in the 18 after his ankle injury, while Tommy Smith (back surgery), Luke Hyam (knee), David McGoldrick (ankle) and Giles Coke (knee) are all still out, along with young midfielder Adam McDonnell, who is also currently undergoing treatment.

McCarthy says Freddie Sears and Kevin Bru reported problems after the Leeds match but were involved at Playford Road today.

“Freddie’s been in nursing a tight groin and Kevin Bru had a tight thigh yesterday but they both trained,” he added. “I don’t need any more problems, that’s plenty for me.”

The Blues manager confirmed that 19-year-old Josh Emmanuel will start at right-back with skipper Luke Chambers moving into the middle.

“Josh is playing,” he said. “Whenever he’s played he’s done OK, he’s played well. It was nothing to do with him not playing well when he got left out, it’s just that I’ve had a very settled back four and they’re all regulars. Opportunity knocks for him."

McCarthy also confirmed that Leon Best will make his first start for the Blues up front having impressed him as a sub in the last two games.

Photo: TWTD

BrettenhamBlue added 16:31 - Sep 26 Praying Emmanuel has a few good games now. The last time I saw him was at Sudbury AFC a few weeks ago and he had a disaster that night (involved in 4 out of the 5 goals scored by Sudbury). I honestly thought he'd be out on-loan for this season so just hope he takes his chance. I hope he puts right what he did wrong against Sudbury (their left winger controlled the ball really well at his feet and Josh was scared of committing to the tackle). The guy just kept dribbling through Josh then cutting inside and feeding crosses into the area. He needs to tackle against Brighton (didn't he play against Brighton last year?). If he's committed and willing to take a risk from the off he'll do fine. He did a few good one-twos against Sudbury and did get forward a couple of times.

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TimmyH added 16:32 - Sep 26 I bet the phenomena that is Skuse/Douglas/Bru will be starting in midfield, doesn't matter who we have starting up top that threesome if continually picked will not get us near the play-offs.
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adeblueboy added 16:38 - Sep 26 Sears must play up front with Best, it was not good to watch on Saturday Best flicking it on to himself!! Douglas must be dropped for Bru or Bishop because they will fill the space in the middle and pass the ball forward! Leeds had all the midfield because we were either too deep or too wide. Please can we stop the 100 crosses that come into the box every match as well! It might be less now a proper RB is going to play.

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jas0999 added 17:06 - Sep 26 Injuries happen in football and a large number on that list were either signed injured or we knew about it prior to the window closing. We should have a big enough squad to adapt. In fact our potential starting eleven looks more than good enough and we even have the midfield options to attack.
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midastouch added 17:19 - Sep 26 If we come up empty handed in our next two home games then it's going to be a big concern. Our season is still very much in the mix. The bookmakers can't decide if we are outside Play-Off contenders, mid-table scrappers, or worse still... Potential relegation fodder. Some have us as short as 8/1 to go down (worrying!), whereas Paddy Power have us 14/1 to get relegated (hate to say it but seems a generous price to me!). http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/championship/relegation One thing is for sure is if we don't start to find some more midfield creativity and should Mick continue to persist with the insanity partnership that is Douglas and Exskuse (give me strength!), those odds of 14/1 are likely to tumble! And worse still, if nobody steps up and starts to fire in some goals, then we could even be looking at the drop! Hopefully we'll be 6 points to the good by 5pm Saturday and our relegation odds will have gone out to 20/1 or well over, but in order for us to do that, we really do need somebody to score some goals from somewhere and based on current form it's very unlikely to be Douglas or ExSkuse. We desperately need to see Freddie return to scoring ways, hopefully supported by Best. But if one of those two don't start to fire some goals soon, then those odds of 14/1 are going to be well out of sight! If we get no points in the next two games then the Mick Out bandwagon is going to gather even more momentum!

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rgp1 added 17:29 - Sep 26 If this carries on we'll have a bigger crowd in the treatment room than the stadium!
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rgp1 added 17:30 - Sep 26 If this carries on we'll have a bigger crowd in the treatment room than the stadium!
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Surco72 added 17:31 - Sep 26 Currie10..that is a prime example of MMs rules for favourites management . Emmanuel took a roasting in one game against one of the best wingers in the league and was dropped for evermore until an injury , Chambo has been done in more games than I can remember and is always selected . And more of the point is that it shouldn't be a choice between the two MM has had 4 years to get a good quality right back and not succeeded ,personally think Parr and Foley were both better options but not given a chance

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BrettenhamBlue added 17:47 - Sep 26 Surco72 Agree completely with your assessment of Foley. For the life of me I do not understand why we let him go, especially as he was our most proficient passer in midfield. Very strange decision. As I said before I do have serious reservations about Emmanuel. He was completely torn apart a few weeks ago by the Sudburt AFC left winger (sorry, no idea of name). I was at the game and it really was a huge mismatch. I do think he deserves his chance but mustn't be frightened to get stuck in to the tackle early on. He stayed on his feet far too much against Sudbury and the guy just dribbled through him every time he had the ball.

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ChestnutSe added 17:51 - Sep 26 I seem to recall Josh playing at right back against Brighton at home last season with Chambo in the middle and they got absolutely taken apart down the left wing.
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ChestnutSe added 17:52 - Sep 26 Hopefully Josh will have improved during the last 12 months and will do better this time. Fingers crossed. COYB
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battyblue added 18:07 - Sep 26 Believe Josh played v Derby end of last season and done very well 1-0 town.
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HackneyBlue added 18:10 - Sep 26 OMG what will happen if Josh shows what a right back should be doing and Webster becomes fit,will Josh be thrown out or Webster never play again?
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therein61 added 18:35 - Sep 26 Sir Bobby blooded George Burley at 17 years old(up against George Best at old Trafford) and gave him a run in the side the rest is history best right back we have ever had(sorry Larry Carberry in the championship side 61/2) it will not matter a damn how Josh plays until Webster is fit as we know he will be dropped and replaced by(great leader he maybe!?) someone who is to blame for us shipping goals from his position(Ward conceding a penalty protecting him a prime example just one of many) I like Chambo's get up and at em approach but he is costing us point wise at right back and it has to stop

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heathen66 added 18:49 - Sep 26 Unfortunately we all know that Josh will only be there until the regulars are fit, no matter how well he plays. He got roasted by LuaLua last season but so did Chambers in the second half as his replacement. When Burley was blooded back in the 70s he had Beattie and Hunter looking after him, and unfortunately Josh will not get this from Chambers and Berra.
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OnlyOneJimmyJuan added 18:54 - Sep 26 Think Kenlock deserves a go. Really don't think Knudsen cuts it with the ball at his feet. Dozzell and Morris also deserve more play time, especially with lack of goals at the moment, no harm in trying them out now instead of waiting till last game of the season. Really can't see us competing this season. Such a shame to not feel excited before matches and to feel like our season is over, and it's not an overreaction. It's true. With the extra conpetitiveness and money in the league it really is quite unrealistic to achieve anything with this squad.

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runaround added 19:21 - Sep 26 Really hope Josh Emmanuel plays superbly in matches until Webster is fit but we all know however well he does he'll be out of the side again. How will he or any of the youngsters ever get a chance to claim a first team place when they only play in an emergency & are then dropped irrespective of performance
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thebeat added 19:31 - Sep 26 Bart Emanuel Chambers Berra Knudsen Skuse Grant Ward Bishop Lawrence Best
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pragmatic added 19:42 - Sep 26 I will be absolutely willing josh to do well he has the touch & physique jus nd confidence only gained by games, irrespective of who people like /dislike at "or club" there are still over 100 points to play for!! So let's all get behind the team & put some of our negativity aside for a bit !
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jocasaja added 19:42 - Sep 26 Bialkowski Emanuel Chambers Berra knudsen Ward skuse bru lawrence Best Sears
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SpiritOfJohn added 19:50 - Sep 26 Hopefully Chambers will put in a commanding performance at centre half as well as Josh at RB then Mick will be less likely to switch 'Skip' back to full back.
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cantona11 added 23:34 - Sep 26 We all know that Josh will only play there until we have our Centre backs back as Chambers is the skipper to my annoyance as he will never get dropped and in my opinion the weakest link and teams all focus on him being out of position and not up to the job of a championship rb but hope Josh can give Mm something to think about
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Guthrum added 00:35 - Sep 27 battyblue - it was against MK Dons, 30th April 2016, Emmanuel played the whole match (we won 3 - 2).
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Keaneish added 06:19 - Sep 27 Yep, all eyes on Emmanuel and Chambers tonight. Hoping this is one of football's little poetry''s seeing as the last time Emmanuel started in the league was against Brighton this time a year ago. Fingers crossed he forces MMs hand ala Bart and Gerken.
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JimmyP45 added 12:54 - Sep 27 Bart Emmanuel Chambers Berra Knudsen Skuse or Grant Ward Bishop Lawrence Best Sears Would swap Bish for Jonny when he is back from injury. Anything except Douglas... any combination of midfield except him.
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