Town boss Roy Keane has dilemmas both up front and at the back ahead of Saturday’s live Sky game at home to Sheffield Wednesday (KO 5.20pm). Central defenders Gareth McAuley and Tommy Smith are back in contention after injury.
Damien Delaney and Alex Bruce have done well as the central pairing in the last two games and Keane will have to decide whether to stick with them or recall McAuley and/or Smith.
McAuley probably stands the greater chance of coming back into the side after his thigh problem, possibly with the left-sided Delaney keeping his place. Smith came through the reserves game at Luton OK despite wearing a bandage on the hand he recently injured in training, but Keane may choose to go with the more experienced Delaney.
The Blues boss says he’s pleased to have plenty of options: "I’ve got a good number to pick from and it’s going to be tough decision for me to get the team right for tomorrow.
"I can’t complain and hopefully that will remain the same over the next month or two as December in particular is a big month in terms of the number of games and we’re going to need all the bodies.”
Town’s long-term injured pair David Norris and Luciano Civelli continue to make progress from their knee ligament injuries. The former Plymouth man is likely to be back before the end of the year and the Argentinian’s return is still set for the new year.
Full-backs David Wright and Liam Rosenior are likely to keep their places with Asmir Begovic continuing in goal.
Keane has further decisions to make up front with none of his strikers having regularly hit the target this season.
The Town manager, who during his press conference dismissed suggestions that the Ireland-France World Cup play-off should be replayed, says that with the defence having been more solid in recent weeks, scoring goals is now the team’s biggest problem: "We’re undefeated in five, but with far too many draws in there. The draws have been a killer to us really, it’s victories we need to get up the table quickly. But over the last month our performances have been pretty decent.
"We still don’t score enough goals and that puts you under pressure, so we need one or two of our strikers to start hitting the net on a regular basis.”
Tamás Priskin put in a promising performance at Reading a fortnight ago but without taking his chances and the Hungarian is likely to keep his place in the starting line-up. Jon Stead was less impressive at the Madejski Stadium, despite scoring and may well drop to the bench
Pablo Couñago played the full 90 minutes for the reserves earlier in the week, which suggests he might not be a starter against the Owls and it may be that Connor Wickham is given only his third league start.
In midfield, skipper Jon Walters will probably continue on the left — although the Ireland B international is another option up front - with Carlos Edwards on the right and Grant Leadbitter in one of the central roles. Alan Quinn, Jack Colback, Liam Trotter and Owen Garvan will all be vying for the other role with Keane hinting that Garvan could come back into his squad after his lengthy absence having impressed in the reserves at Luton.
The Owls are managed by Keane’s former Nottingham Forest team-mate Brian Laws, whose side he says are a bit up and down at present: "Sheffield Wednesday are a very unpredictable team. They’ve played well in their last couple of games without getting the results.
"We’re not exactly flying high, we’re on the back of two half-decent results but we need to build on that.
"We got off the bottom a couple of weeks ago, that was a plus for everybody, but we need to keep that going and try and get a victory and hopefully get out of the bottom three over the weekend. But it’ll be a tough game.
"The whole Championship can change if you get a run of results, we’ve seen that with the teams at the top. It’s tight at the bottom and if we can go on any sort of run we’ll soon be out of it, but it’s the victories we need and if we get the victories, the table will take care of itself.”
Wednesday boss Laws is targeting a victory for his side, who currently sit in 16th place on 17 points with an away record of won one, drawn three and lost four: "It feels like a long time since our last game. We've had to work on it, get back on the training ground and the players have responded in the right manner.
"We're going down there in a buoyant mood. The players have had a two-week break now and we've been dying for them to get back into it. They have trained really hard, so I'm anticipating a good performance and a result which will help us move forward in the league."
Laws, who could recall Dutch midfielder Etienne Esajas after a knee problem, says former Blue Tommy Miller is the Owls’ only injury doubt: "We have to check on Tommy. He has got a little bit of a hamstring but we will test him out prior to the game. He has been pleased with his performances over the last few games and he wants to be part of this, particularly against his former club."
The Owls manager says his team has improved defensively in recent weeks: "To be honest, over the last few games I think we have looked a more solid defence. Frank Simek has come back and looked his old self and it's given us a little more edge to our game.
"I think Lewis Buxton has done ever so well at centre-back, he's been dominant, shown his pace and his calmness on the ball as well. I've always said he's very versatile. I think his best position is centre-back there is no question about that.
"We are in good form; it's the results that aren't coming. We've put a lot into our recent games and only come away with one point. We are creating so many opportunities and playing some great football and I hope we can continue that."
Wednesday have had the better of the Blues historically, winning 16 times (15 in the league), losing on 14 (13) occasions with seven (six) matches ending in draws.
Last season, both games ended level, the sides playing out a 0-0 stalemate at Hillsborough, before a 1-1 draw at Portman Road via goals from Steve Watson and Pablo Couñago.
Town defender Alex Bruce was on loan at Hillsborough when a Birmingham player in 2005, making eight starts and one sub appearance, while Alan Quinn spent seven years as an Owl between 1997 and 2004, making 169 starts and 11 sub appearances, scoring 17 goals, before blotting his copybook with Wednesday fans somewhat by joining Sheffield United.
Tommy Miller had three spells with the Blues before leaving for the final time in the summer and joining the Owls. Franny Jeffers was on loan at Portman Road in 2007 and came close to joining Town on a permanent basis but preferred to remain in the north and signed for Wednesday. The former Arsenal and Everton man has featured only once as a brief sub since being sent off in a Carling Cup tie in August.
Winger Jermaine Johnson spent time on trial with the Blues back in January 2001.
TWTD issue 99 is out ahead of Saturday’s game. This issue features an interview with Town central defender Alex Bruce.
Bruce says he still thinks Town can make the play-offs despite the poor start, while elsewhere Gavin Barber spots Roy Keane in unusual places, Roger Hermiston assesses the Town manager’s touchline manner and Clive Whittingham from LoftforWords.co.uk writes about Jim Magilton at QPR, along with lots of other stuff.
The fanzine is available from our sellers around the ground (by Sir Alf, Planet Blue and the Portman Road entrance to the Greene King Stand) prior to the game, where we should also be selling signed copies of John Wark’s autobiography Wark On, which should also be on sale from our shop next week.
If you’re too lazy to go to the match because it’s on the telly or live overseas and want the fanzine, you can buy a single issue or subscription at the shop here.
As well as the game being on Sky in the UK (Sky Sports One), some fans abroad may be able to watch the game where they are.
Saturday’s referee is Andy D’Urso from Billericay, an official not entirely popular with Town supporters. D’Urso has shown 44 yellow cards and one red in 12 games so far this season. The former Premier League official’s most recent Town match was the 3-0 home defeat to Southampton in March in which he booked only two Saints players.
Squad from: Begovic, R Wright, Lee-Barrett, D Wright, Rosenior, McAuley, Delaney, Bruce, Smith, Leadbitter, Quinn, Trotter, Colback, Garvan, Healy, Walters, Edwards, Peters, Martin, Priskin, Stead, Wickham, Couñago.