Boss Roy Keane is sweating on the fitness of 18-year-old midfielder Luke Hyam ahead of Burnley’s visit to Portman Road for the Blues’ first home game of the season on Saturday. Town could give debuts to new loanee Andros Townsend and summer signing from Sunderland Conor Hourihane, while striker Ronan Murray could make his league bow having scored in the Carling Cup at Exeter.
Keane says defensive linchpin Gareth McAuley should be fit but that Troy Brown is definitely out and that Hyam could join him on the sidelines: "Gareth did a bit of light jogging [on Thursday] morning. It was very light training for Gareth and he should be involved on Saturday.
"Troy won’t be fit because he twisted his ankle the other night and Luke Hyam is very much doubtful with a bad knock to his shin.”
Town are already without Connor Wickham (ankle), Damien Delaney (thigh), Luciano Civelli (knee), Alan Quinn (groin), Carlos Edwards (groin) and Mark Kennedy (hamstring). From that list Edwards is the most likely to be back next week and Kennedy a week or two after that.
The Blues boss says Luciano Civelli, who picked up his serious knee injury last time Burnley were in Suffolk in March 2009, is progressing well after picking up a minor knock in the pre-season friendly at Leiston: "He had an injection on Wednesday, so his recovery has panned out the way we thought it would from the knock he received in the reserve game.”
Keane says Tuesday’s goalscoring debutant Ronan Murray, who is known as ‘Rooney’ around the club, could well be included in his squad: "Players pick the team. Perform like he did the other night and he’ll be in the team. He came on the other night, he had a shot after about three minutes, he scored, he got involved in the other two goals and the keeper made a really good save from him.
"What he did and what you’re always hoping your players will do, particularly your subs, is affect the game. Good players affect the game.
"When I saw him coming on his body language said ‘get me on the pitch’. We knew he’d do something the other night, but that was the other night, Burnley’s different. We’re at home, they’re physically a bigger, stronger team. They’ve just come out of the Premiership. He trained today and looked sharp, but I’ll finalise my 18 on Friday.”
The Town manager says he is happy with his squad’s efforts in the first week of the season: "I’m pleased with the players, particularly the young kids. I’ve been pleased with the energy, but the other night there were still examples of how naïve we were in terms of keeping the ball when we got in a winning position, and again in extra-time.
"I thought we found out a lot about our younger players on Tuesday night. Did we play brilliantly? I don’t think we did, we conceded two goals, but I have to say that I don’t think our players were going to walk off that pitch beaten.
"I didn’t think for one second we were going to get beaten. Rooney coming on, Shane O’Connor doing well, Troy carrying on with a twisted ankle, David Norris and Jon Stead, who has been linked with a few clubs, he showed a good side to him the other night.”
Keane says his young squad will need the crowd to be backing them against the Clarets: "You always look forward to your first home game. We’ve had a decent start, we’ll have a lot of young players playing on Saturday so they will certainly need the supporters behind them because it’ll be a tough game. We hope all the fans will come to the game and we’re looking forward to it.”
The Town boss was pleased that neither Tamás Priskin nor Márton Fülöp started for Hungary against England on Wednesday given the club’s injury problems, while midfielder Conor Hourihane returned unscathed from his scoring debut for the Republic of Ireland U21s.
Fülöp is likely to start in goal with Jaime Peters at right-back, Shane O’Connor at left-back in Mark Kennedy’s absence and Gareth McAuley and Tommy Smith at the centre.
In midfield, Keane will have to decide who to take over from Luke Hyam in the holding role with the youngster looking likely to miss out. Grant Leadbitter will probably get the nod with new skipper David Norris and Colin Healy or perhaps Conor Hourihane, who would be making his debut, in the more advanced central roles.
Up front, Tamás Priskin is likely to take the central role with now former skipper Jon Walters over his virus but set to be left out having asked for a move. Jon Stead is likely to come into the side on the right.
In Carlos Edwards’s absence, new loan signing Andros Townsend to make his debut on the left. Pablo Couñago will again be left out of the 18.
Burnley boss Brian Laws, a Nottingham Forest team-mate of Roy Keane and Town first team coach Tony Loughlan, says he expects the Blues to be in the running this season: "Ipswich are a side that is always there or thereabouts in the Championship and a strong contender for promotion.
"Last year was just a blip. They had a tough year but when you look at the stats they drew more than anyone else and if they had turn half of those into wins they would have been in the play-offs. "Roy is a very determined character and a determined manager who wants and demands success and anyone who stands in his way will get trampled on. That's the way he played and that's the way he manages.
"He will want to try and brush us to one side but hopefully we will have something to say about that." Burnley have re-signed Chelsea midfielder Jack Cork on loan to cover for Chris McCann, who is out with a cruciate knee ligament injury. Defender Michael Duff has a calf problem and is likely to be replaced by Clarke Carlisle.
No current Town player has been a Claret, while no member of Brian Laws’s squad has featured for the Blues, although Jaime Peters and David Edgar are close friends having played at various levels with Canada together.
The sides last met at Portman Road in March 2009 when the match ended 1-1, Wade Elliott putting the Clarets in front and loanee Giovani Dos Santos equalising for the Blues.
Earlier, on the second weekend of that season, which ultimately ended with Burnley going up through the play-offs, Town won 3-0 at Turf Moor, Liam Trotter, Kevin Lisbie and Clarets defender Stephen Jordan scoring the goals. The match had been delayed after a parachutist landed on the roof of the stand holding the Town support.
Overall, Town have won 15 games between the sides (14 in the league), Burnley nine (nine) with a further nine (nine) ending in draws.
Saturday’s referee is Grant Hegley from Hertfordshire, who showed a remarkably lenient 40 yellow cards and one red in 36 games last season. Hegley’s most recent Town match was the 2-0 home victory over Cardiff in March when he booked Damien Delaney, David Norris and Cardiff’s Michael Chopra.
Probable squad: Fülöp, Murphy, Peters, Ainsley, O’Connor, McAuley, Smith, Eastman, Hyam, Norris, Leadbitter, Healy, Hourihane, Townsend, Griffiths, Priskin, Stead, Lambe, Murray.
Photo: James Ager.