Central defender Jason De Vos remains a big doubt ahead of Saturday's trip to Burnley due to the blood clot on his leg picked up in the Sheffield United match. Boss Joe Royle is considering whether to recall keeper Kelvin Davis or stick with Lewis Price.

Royle seems almost resigned to De Vos missing out at Turf Moor: "I would love to say that Jason has a 50-50 chance of playing against Burnley but realistically his chances are not that good.

"I think it will be very hard for him to make it, although he will continue to have treatment and we'll just have to wait and see how he is later today and tomorrow.

"These things generally take four or five days, so I am pretty sure Jason will be fine for the following weekend and the visit of Leeds to Portman Road."

If the former Wigan man fails to make it, Town are likely to switch to the back four which ended Tuesday's thrashing of Sheffield United, with Drissa Diallo - a former Burnley player - going to central defence, Fabian Wilnis to right-back and Matt Richards at left-back.

First-choice keeper Kelvin Davis came through last night's reserve game at West Ham without a problem, while Lewis Price has done well during the former England U21 international's absence with a back injury.

Manager Royle says he is yet to make his decision: "Lewis has done brilliantly for us and with Kelvin being fit again, it will give me some thinking to do.

"Kelvin is fine now and was throwing himself around in training without any problems.

"It's his kicking that has caused him more trouble than anything else over the last week or two but that has eased now.

"It's good to have him back in contention and it's a difficult decision to choose between them - but it's a nice one to have to make."

Davis's experience is likely to see him get the nod ahead of the Welsh U21 who expects to go out on loan to play more senior games at some point this season.

Elsewhere, the Blues will probably be unchanged, with Tommy Miller and Fabian Wilnis coming through Tuesday's game without aggravating the calf and hamstring injuries they picked up in the Preston game.

Burnley have a lengthy injury list ahead of Saturday. Keeper Danny Coyne and midfielder Richard Chaplow have hamstring and knee cartilage problems respectively and are facing long spells on the sidelines.

Graham Branch (knee), Jean-Louis Valois (hamstring) and Ian Moore (knee operation) all missed Wednesday's win at Leeds, while manager Steve Cotterill says ex-Blue John McGreal has a number of problems: "John McGreal was also in the wars because he had a shoulder and neck injury coming into the [Leeds] game, then he tweaked his knee and then he went over on his ankle.

"He must have run over a black cat and we are going to have to pad him up and not let him go anywhere for a couple of days."

Despite West Brom midfielder James O'Connor coming in on loan, the Clarets are so short of players that French trialist Amadou Sanokho was on the bench at Leeds and Cotterill may not be able to name five substitutes against Town.

Travelling fans will hope Burnley have a slightly more positive approach to the game at home than they did in the 1-1 draw at Portman Road last month.

Saturday's referee is Mike Pike from Barrow-in-Furness who has shown 19 yellow cards and no red in 11 games. Pike last refereed Town in the 2-1 win at Port Vale in January 2000.

Probable Town squad: Davis, Price, Diallo, Wilnis, Richards, Mitchell, De Vos, Naylor, Collins, Magilton, Horlock, Miller, Westlake, Bent, Kuqi, Bowditch, Couñago.

Photo: Action Images

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