Striker Pablo Couñago will make only his fourth start of the season when the Blues travel to Leeds on Saturday. Couñago will return as Town seek to end an away goalscoring drought which has seen them fail to net in open play on their travels for four games.

Manager Joe Royle will decide whether the Spaniard will replace one of his current front two or play three up front. If he decides on a two-man attack force then Shefki Kuqi, without an away goal in six, will probably drop to the bench.

Defender Drissa Diallo is back after his long absence due to a hamstring injury but looks set to take a place on the bench at best. Diallo was a fixture at right-back early on the in the season with Fabian Wilnis on the left. However, since the loan signing of David Unsworth, the Dutchman has re-established himself in his more familiar position.

Diallo could still have a role to play this season however, with Unsworth set to leave Portman Road after the final game of the season proper at Brighton but before the play-offs.

Skipper Jim Magilton could return to the midfield at Elland Road with Kevin Horlock and/or Darren Currie dropping to the bench, depending on which formation the Blues employ.

Royle is looking for three wins out of three from his side with automatic promotion still his target: "To have a chance of going straight up it might be necessary to take nine points out of nine - but it could all change on Saturday depending what happens.

"But as things stand, we feel ourselves that we might need to win all three games to finish in the top two. All we can do is set out to achieve that and see what happens."

Leeds are out of the play-off race and have nothing to play for in the remaining three weeks of the season. Former Blue Jermaine Wright, the scorer of Town's winning goal when they last beat Leeds at Elland Road in 200/01, looks likely to be on the bench for the Whites having been a sub in last week's game against QPR.

Boss Kevin Blackwell has a few injury problems with skipper Paul Butler still absent after suffering concussion in the recent game against Sheffield United when he collided with his own keeper Neil Sullivan. Butler almost swallowed his tongue in the incident.

On-loan striker Marlon King is also a likely absentee as he has a viral infection. Former Town loan target Sean Derry misses the game after receiving a red card last week.

Northern Ireland international striker David Healy is out with ankle ligament damage, while Stephen Crainey has a long-standing groin injury and veteran centre-half Lucas Radebe has missed virtually all his testimonial season with a ruptured achilles tendon.

Saturday's referee is Colin Webster from Tyne and Wear who has shown 115 yellow and 11 red cards in 35 games this season. He last took control of Town in the recent 6-0 hammering of Nottingham Forest. Coincidentally, Webster was also the official when Leeds beat QPR 6-1 in November.

Town squad: Davis, Price, Wilnis, Unsworth, Richards, De Vos, Naylor, Diallo, Magilton, Horlock, Westlake, Miller, Currie, Bent, Couñago, Kuqi, Scowcroft.

Photo: Action Images

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