Striker Alan Lee is a big doubt ahead of Saturday's home game against Stoke due to a groin injury. Skipper Jim Magilton and on-loan defender Jay McEveley are also injury concerns.

Lee missed Thursday training, but will be assessed on Friday before a decision is taken. Boss Joe Royle was hopeful that Magilton (foot) and McEveley (knee) would be back in full training on Thursday and would be available for selection against the Potters, although the club captain looks unlikely to start after spending the last 10 days on the sidelines.

Jason De Vos was back in training despite having had another injection in his arthritic toe.

Royle says that until the availability of players becomes known, he has no idea of Saturday's line-up: "Shane Supple will start in goal and other than that I honestly don't know. We'll see how Jim is, Jay McEveley and most of all Alan Lee. The whole thing depends on Alan Lee mostly. Chris Casement will probably play."

If he does start, Casement will probably be used at right-back, although the Northern Irishman could come in at his more usual position of centre-half depending on the fitness of other players.

Richard Naylor will go up front in Lee's absence, although Royle would prefer to play the club's longest-serving player at the centre of the defence. Ideally, the Town boss would probably choose to field Lee alongside either Dean Bowditch, a scorer for the reserves earlier in the week, or Danny Haynes.

Dutchman Fabian Wilnis, who signed a new one-year contract at the end of last week, could again be used as a centre-half.

Nicky Forster may be back in reserves action away against Norwich on Monday after undergoing a knee operation earlier in the year. The former Reading man is in with a chance of returning to the first team before the end of the season.

Fellow frontman Sam Parkin is unlikely to be involved with the senior side before next season and is currently waiting to hear back from a specialist he saw earlier in the week. The summer £450,000 signing from Swindon has recently slowed in his progress as he recovers from his broken ankle and subsequent operation.

Midfielder Ian Westlake is progressing more quickly than had been anticipated after spraining his ankle last month but is still unlikely to return this season. Gavin Williams will not be back until next season after his knee operation.

Scott Barron will be in the squad after being left out of the 16 last week. The full-back was rested to give Jay McEveley, who Town may well try to sign permanently in the summer, a run out after his knee injury, while Chris Casement's defensive versatility saw him given a place on the bench ahead of Barron.

Royle says that despite the play-offs being out of reach, he doesn't want the season drifting into nothing: "We want to finish the season on a high. We want to finish above our neighbours, we want to finish as high as we can and with as much promise as we can for next year.

"There's always something to play for. I'd dearly like us to finish seventh if we can't finish sixth. And that would be a fantastic season with what's happened to us."

Stoke defender Clint Hill is OK despite concerns that he has suffered a recurrence of a knee problem, but John Eustace is a long-term absentee. Icelandic striker Hannes Sigurdsson was due to undergo a hernia operation this week.

Guinean striker Sammy Bangoura, without a senior goal since December, missed last week's 1-1 draw with Sheffield United with an ankle problem and is also considered short of fitness after a lengthy absence due to the African Nations Cup in Egypt earlier in the year.

Saturday's referee is Patrick Miller from Bedfordshire who will be taking control of his first Championship game. In his inaugural season as a Football League official, Miller has shown 59 yellow and two red cards in 25 games, both his red cards coming in a single match.

Town legend Kevin Beattie will receive a replica of the 1974 PFA Young Player of the Year award prior to Saturday's game. The original was destroyed in a fire in Norway during Beattie's spell playing in Scandinavia.

Likely squad: Supple, Price, Sito, Barron, Casement, McEveley, Wilnis, De Vos, Naylor, Magilton, Garvan, Juan, Richards, Currie, Skard, Lee, Haynes, Bowditch.

Photo: Action Images

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