 Friday, 23rd Mar 2012 14:51 Town boss Paul Jewell says he's decided who will replace suspended midfielder Grant Leadbitter in the Blues’ midfield for Saturday’s visit to bogey club Watford. Ex-Luton man Andy Drury appears to be the favourite to regain his place in the centre alongside Lee Bowyer as Town look to end a winless run of 14 games against the Hornets and win at Vicarage Road for the first time in nine years. Jewell says he has already named his side: “The players know the team for tomorrow. We’ve been working on it this morning. “It wasn’t an easy decision because a lot of players have made good cases. I’ve picked the team and, including Burnley, we’ve got three games in six days — Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday - so it’s a punishing schedule.” The Town boss told his players not to expect to play every game during March’s busy run: “I said at the start of the month that we’ve got eight games in March. “The defenders do less work leg-wise than anyone else in the team because that’s the nature of the game, but certainly midfield players and forward-thinking players have put in a lot of effort and we will rotate the odd one here and there. “I don’t like making wholesale changes, I think everybody knows that but I think we were quite right to leave Lee Martin out at Hull on a heavy pitch because he’s put an unbelievable shift in of late. He came off the bench with renewed vigour and we got back to 2-2. "I think we were correct to leave Andy Drury out because he’d hit a bit of a flat spot and he might be better for that rest, we’ll have to wait and see.” That might be a hint that Drury is the man to have got the nod ahead of Luke Hyam, Jimmy Bullard and Ryan Stevenson for the role vacated by Leadbitter, who is banned for one game after his late red card during Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Burnley. Town will also be without striker Jason Scotland, while Jewell says a couple of his fringe players are also currently sidelined: “Jason’s not fit. He trained on Tuesday and said he felt a slight tweak in his adductor, nothing serious. “It tightened up on Wednesday afternoon when he was at home, so that was a really late shout. We were disappointed to miss Jason [against Burnley] because he gives us an option off the bench. “Nathan Ellington’s got a calf strain and Jaime Peters has got a thigh strain, but everyone else who has been in and around the first team is fit.” Jewell is pleased to have laid to rest the ghosts of two heavy defeats this week: “I think the last two teams we’ve faced, Peterborough and Burnley, the games against them away from home were low points in the season. “To get six points out of those two games is satisfying and it’s a sign that we have made a bit of progress but it's also a sign that we’ve got to make a lot of progress to make before we get to the level we really want to be at.” Town’s recent good run probably comes too late for a play-off push, but the Blues manager says there’s no point in crying about points given away earlier in the campaign: “Football’s all about ifs, buts and maybes. Every club in the country will have their own ‘if only…’. After 46 games we will finish where we deserve to finish, I’m a believer in that. “You can be unlucky on one given day or for a couple of weeks even, but the way I see it is that the best teams are always the luckiest and the worst teams are always the ones that get relegated. “Let’s not harp on about what’s gone on, it’s where we are now. We’re not sitting on our laurels whatsoever but we have made progress.” The Town boss again seems unlikely to stray too far from the team which won in midweek. Leadbitter will probably be the only change in what will otherwise be the same team. Alex McCarthy will be in goal with Carlos Edwards and Aaron Cresswell the full-backs and Tommy Smith and Damien Delaney the centre-halves. In midfield, Drury is likely to come in next to Bowyer in the centre with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas on the right and Daryl Murphy on the left. Lee Martin will play behind lone striker Michael Chopra. Watford will be without key defender Adrian Mariappa, who has an ankle strain, while midfielder Ross Jenkins misses out with a groin problem. Skipper John Eustace is likely to return from a minor back injury. Hornets boss Sean Dyche says the two teams have had similar seasons with his side in 15th, a place behind Town on the same points having played one game more: "Like us, they had an awkward start and a difficult run at that time. "But in Paul Jewell, they have an experienced manager who has a track record of producing winning sides - so it's no surprise to me that they put it all together eventually. "They look like they're back to doing what a club like Ipswich would expect, so we know we're in for a tough test. "It's two teams in good form coming together, really, if you look at the overall picture of both sides' recent results." Dyche played alongside Michael Chopra during the Blues frontman’s month on loan at Watford in 2003: "He's a good lad Chops, he was a very young lad when he came here on loan when I was playing. "Ipswich are more than just about him, though. They've got plenty of threats that we'll need to be aware of. "But as I always say, it's about what we do first and foremost. Our fans will be important on Saturday, too, so there's no reason we shouldn't be looking forward to this one." Town haven’t beaten Watford in 14 games home and away in all competitions since March 2004 when a Dean Bowditch hat-trick and a rarity from Jermaine Wright condemned the Hornets to a 4-1 defeat at Portman Road. The Blues' last victory at Vicarage Road was in September 2003 when a debut goal from sub Shefki Kuqi and a superb chip by Jim Magilton saw Joe Royle's men to a 2-1 win, Scott Fitzgerald netting for the Hornets. Despite this recent poor record, Town have still had the better of Watford historically, winning 24 times (21 in the league), losing 23 (22) and drawing 16 (16). The Hornets have, however, won the last four games between the sides. The Blues’ league winless streak of 13 games against Watford (one of the overall 14 was in the FA Cup) is the joint-second worst in the club’s history along with a similar 13-game run against Arsenal running from 1985 to the present day behind a 15-game streak against Everton between 1962 and 1974. In December, Watford came from behind to condemn Town to their seventh successive defeat as the Hornets left Portman Road with a 2-1 win. Keith Andrews saw the Blues into a half-time lead but a penalty from Marvin Sordell and a second from Troy Deeney soon after sealed the victory for the visitors. Last season at Vicarage Road, David Norris’s second half goal wasn’t enough to prevent Town from falling to a 2-1 defeat. Roy Keane’s men had been the better side up to a two-goal Hornets salvo just before the break from Stephen McGinn and Marvin Sordell. The Blues got back on top in the closing stages after Norris’s goal, but were unable to grab the equaliser, Ronan Murray finding the net but with a linesman’s flag already raised. Michael Chopra scored five goals in five starts and one sub appearance during his month at Vicarage Road in 2003, including four in a 7-4 away win at Burnley. Fellow Blues striker Nathan Ellington was with the Hornets for four years up to last summer but made only 23 starts and 33 sub appearances while at Vicarage Road, also scoring five goals. Hornets keeper Scott Loach was an academy schoolboy at Playford Road and Watford goalkeeper-coach Alec Chamberlain was also a youth player with the Blues but never made a first team appearance. Tony Loughlan, assistant manager at Town under Roy Keane, is now the first team coach at Watford. Saturday’s referee is Premier League official Peter Walton, who has shown 65 yellow and two red cards in 20 matches so far this season. The Northamptonshire-based ref’s last Town match, aside from the 2007/08 pre-season friendly against Panathinaikos, was the 6-1 home victory over Leicester in August 2002 in which he booked five players. Squad from: McCarthy, Lee-Barrett, Edwards, Cresswell, Smith, Delaney, Sonko, Ainsley, Drury, Hyam, Bowyer, Stevenson, Emmanuel-Thomas, Murphy, Carson, Bullard, Martin, Chopra.
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