Striker Billy Clarke looks set to keep his place in the Town starting line-up when the Blues take on Preston North End at Portman Road on Saturday. Jim Magilton is expected to return to the 4-4-2 formation which has seen Town win their last seven home games.
Clarke was employed wide on the left of a five-man midfield in a 4-5-1 formation at Burnley on Tuesday, a match the Blues ought to have won having gone two goals in front inside the first eight minutes.
The Cork-born player, who plays a similar role for the Irish U21s, created Alan Lee's goal and will almost certainly start on the left of a four-man midfield for the first time in a Town shirt on Saturday.
Manager Magilton confirmed the performances of Clarke and Sylvain Legwinski at Turf Moor gave him something to think about: "I've got a few selection problems.
"Sylvain and Billy did very well in the week and posed a few questions, in terms of my selections for tomorrow's match. Pablo also comes back into the thinking, of course."
The Town boss may opt to rest Legwinski as he reduces his midfield from five to four. The Frenchman was making only his second start of the season at Burnley and may not yet be ready for two matches in a week.
If that's the case, Owen Garvan and Tommy Miller, still looking for the first goal of his third spell with the club, will be in the centre with Jon Walters on the right. Gary Roberts played the full 90 minutes for the reserves in midweek and is likely to join Jaime Peters amongst the substitutes.
Town have received good news regarding Gavin Williams's fitness. The former West Ham, Yeovil and Hereford man has undergone a scan which has shown good progress as he recovers from the ankle ligament injury he sustained in the pre-season game with Panathinaikos. The Wales international could be back in action early in November.
Pablo Couñago is expected to return to the side alongside Alan Lee up front with Danny Haynes coming off the bench at some stage.
At the back, Neil Alexander is likely to continue in goal with Dan Harding on the left, David Wright on the right and Jason De Vos and Alex Bruce in the centre. Richard Naylor is continuing his recovery after summer toe surgery and may play in the reserves next week.
Preston are managed by Paul Simpson, a former team-mate of Jim Magilton's at Oxford United. The Lilywhites started the season poorly, but hit back with a 5-1 victory over George Burley's Southampton in midweek, which Magilton says will have given them belief: "I've been surprised by their poor start to the season but they'll be full of confidence after that result.
"When they click they're a very good side, but we've been playing well at home and taking our chances - hopefully that will continue tomorrow."
Simpson has to decide whether to recall Andy Carroll — one of Town's summer loan targets — after the striker's three-match ban for a red card or stick with Paul Gallagher and Karl Hawley as his front two. Gallagher, on loan from Blackburn, has a minor groin strain but is expected to be fit.
Left-back Matt Hill has a hamstring problem and will be assessed before the squad leaves for Suffolk later today. Keeper Wayne Henderson is out with a back injury, while midfielder Paul McKenna is still not ready to return after suffering a groin problem last season.
Simpson says confidence remained high at Deepdale, despite the indifferent early spell: "In all honesty there have been smiles around the place for a while now.
"It's just the results that have been letting us down. The players have remained confident. They have all been upbeat and just determined, more than anything, to get a result.
”We were always confident we were going to get a result — although I don't think anyone expected it to be five goals against a team like Southampton."
Last season, Preston beat the Blues 3-2 at Portman Road after being 2-0 down at the break. Jon Macken (pen) and Alan Lee had put Town in front before David Nugent, Liam Chilvers and Simon Whaley hit back for the visitors. Later in the season, a Michael Ricketts goal gave the Lilywhites a 1-0 victory at Deepdale.
Saturday's referee is Mick Russell from Hertfordshire, who has shown 20 yellow and two red cards in eight games this season. His last Town match was the 3-1 home victory over Sunderland in September 2006 in which he booked eight players, including Jason De Vos, Sito, Mark Noble and Gavin Williams, and sent off Black Cats midfielder Ross Wallace.
Squad: Alexander, Bruce, Casement, Clarke, Couñago, De Vos, Garvan, Harding, Haynes, Lee, Legwinski, T Miller, Peters, Roberts, Supple, Walters, Wilnis, Wright.