Town boss Roy Keane says David Norris has an outside chance of being fit for Saturday’s visit to Hull City, a club where the Blues skipper once had a loan spell. On-loan Celtic defender Darren O’Dea is also a doubt for the visit to the KC Stadium after picking up a minor hamstring injury while away with Ireland earlier in the week.
Keane says that Norris is unlikely to be involved due to the ankle injury he sustained in the recent home victory over Millwall: "He has an outside chance, no more than that. He didn’t train with us on Thursday and we don’t do much on Friday, so we’ll leave that to the last minute.
"Darren will have a light session depending on how his hamstring is. We don’t think he needs a scan or anything, but he’s obviously come back in and he’s stiff. We’re not writing him off yet.”
The Blues are without defensive linchpin Gareth McAuley, who is out for two or three weeks with achilles tendinitis, while midfielder Luke Hyam will be missing for four to five weeks with a torn hamstring and defender Mark Kennedy is sidelined for two to three weeks with a less serious hamstring problem.
Better news is that midfielder Grant Leadbitter is back after his one-match suspension, Keane believing his squad suffered for their lack of experience against Barnsley with the side having an average age of only 23.36: "I’ve been saying for some months now that the players have been doing reasonably well but that our challenge would come when we got injuries to our senior players.
"We had that weekend with a lot of young players out on the pitch and that’s where we’re at. I could have told you that last summer when we let senior players go out of the club. We know where we’re at and the young players will have a go on Saturday.
"I made decisions [in the summer] regarding senior players whose contracts were up, but there were other players who we didn’t think would be leaving, like Jon Stead and Jon Walters. Experienced players, players who have played international football.”
The Town manager again expects his squad to contain more than a smattering of youngsters and also hints that Argentinian midfielder Luciano Civelli could be in the 18 for the first time this season: "One or two lads will have to come into it for the weekend.
"Shane O’Connor did reasonably well [in the reserves at Norwich on Tuesday], Jaime Peters is involved anyway, Jamie Griffiths has had a taste of the first team. One or two others might get back involved.
"Maybe Luca might deserve an opportunity of certainly being in the squad. What he has to do, like he did the other day, is to keep working hard.”
Keane is urging patience with his youngsters and the similarly youthful loan players at the club after the booing during last week’s home defeat to Barnsley: "We’re supposed to be a good club which wants young players to come here and enjoy their football and they have to listen to that.
"We’ve got Jake Livermore and Andros Townsend here. The reason Jack Colback wanted to come back here this year was because he enjoyed it last year. These boys are still getting up to speed. Some players get the opportunity and get a bit of patience from people and others don’t.”
Midfielder Colin Healy is training again after hamstring and groin injuries and will play in the reserves in a friendly against Spurs next Wednesday. Alan Quinn, who has been out of action since pre-season with a groin injury, is due back from Ireland after a family bereavement in the next few days.
The Blues boss says Hull are starting to show some form having begun the season poorly: "If you get off to a sluggish start it takes a bit of time to get into the swing of things. Hull played very well at Preston last week, they’ve got a lot of experience in their squad, some very, very good players and sometimes when you get relegated it takes a few months to adapt.
"But the signs have been much better and the manager’s getting his points across. So we know, as usual, we have to be at our best. If we’re not at our best in the Championship we will get beaten.”
The visit to Hull could see Keane revert to the 4-5-1 formation used earlier and most successfully away from home earlier in the season, the Tigers having set themselves up in a similar manner of late.
Márton Fülöp should continue in goal, but Keane has decisions to make throughout his defence. Darren O’Dea could come in either at left-back or at the centre of the defence if fit with Tommy Smith also likely to play in one of those positions. Damien Delaney, a one-time fans’ favourite at the KC Stadium, will take one of the central defensive roles.
Troy Brown, who win his first Wales U21 cap in midweek, could come in at either right centre-half or right-back, although Keane has continued to praise Tom Eastman’s performances in the right full-back role. Jaime Peters is another alternative on the right, while Shane O’Connor is another option on the other side of the defence.
In midfield, Grant Leadbitter will probably take the holding role in Hyam’s absence with Norris, if fit ahead of him, alongside Jack Colback, with Jake Livermore the captain’s likely deputy if he misses out.
Carlos Edwards and Andros Townsend will probably be in the wide positions with Tamás Priskin probably the favourite for the lone striker’s role after netting at Sheffield United when the Blues were last away and again for Hungary in the week. Jason Scotland and Connor Wickham are likely to play a part from the bench.
Hull, who have drawn at Leeds and won at Preston in their last two games, sit in 20th in the Championship, having been on the winning side in only two of their eight home games so far this season.
Manager Nigel Pearson, who was very much in the running for the Town job in 2006 prior to Jim Magilton’s appointment, says his side need to continue their better recent form against the Blues: "It's important to build on the improved belief and confidence that the players have but it's two games.
"We're still at the wrong end of the table and we've got a lot of catching up to do. That starts again against Ipswich.
"We need to build on it if we're going to keep resurrecting the belief in the players and just as importantly, keep winning supporters back on side.
"I'm sure there have been plenty of people doubting us and when you're losing games at home, that does test the resolve of everyone.
"Our home results haven't been good enough and it would be nice to give the fans a home win to give them something to cheer about.
"In the last couple of away games we've created a lot more chances and taken four points. That's a positive for us but now we need to win this home game."
Ex-Town loanee Liam Rosenior and Daniel Ayala, currently on loan from Liverpool, are doubts for Saturday’s game with slight hamstring problems.
Irish international Paul McShane, who played for Roy Keane at Sunderland, is available again after a thigh problem, while on-loan Spurs midfielder John Bostock is back after a one-match ban
Veteran Irishman Kevin KIlbane is expected to play despite being withdrawn from the Irish squad earlier in the week, but Caleb Folan, Craig Fagan and Jimmy Bullard are definitely out.
Hull are in the midst of being taken over by local businessmen Assem and Ehab Allam, who will be the special guests of current owner Russell Bartlett at the game.
Town defender Damien Delaney played for Hull from 2002 until 2008, making 235 starts and four sub appearances, scoring five goals. Skipper David Norris was on loan with the Tigers from Bolton in 2002, starting three games, making three appearances from the bench and netting once.
Liam Rosenior, who was on loan with the Blues from Reading last season, recently joined the Tigers on a short-term contract. No other current Hull player has represented the Blues.
Historically, Town and the Tigers are very evenly matched, the Blues having won eight times, eight games having ended in draws and Hull victorious on eight occasions. The teams have never met in a cup competition.
The last time the sides faced one another was the final day of the 2007/08 season when Alan Lee scored within seconds of coming off the bench to give the Blues a deserved 1-0 victory at Portman Road. However, the win wasn't enough for Town, leaving them in eighth in the Championship, missing out on the play-offs by one point.
The result saw Hull miss out on automatic promotion but go into the play-offs and then into the Premier League for the last two seasons.
The most recent game at the KC Stadium came in September 2007 with the Tigers running out 3-1 winners. Henrik Pedersen scored twice and former Blue Wayne Brown once for the home side, while Dan Harding netted for Town, his only goal for the club.
Saturday’s referee is Andy Haines from Tyne and Wear, who has shown 30 yellow cards and no reds in 12 games so far this season. Haines’s last Town match was the 1-1 draw at Scunthorpe in February in which he booked Grant Leadbitter, Connor Wickham, David Wright and two home players. Haines had previously postponed the match due to a frozen pitch back in December.
Squad from: Fülöp, Murphy, Eastman, Peters, O’Connor, Delaney, Smith, O’Dea, Brown, Norris, Leadbitter, Livermore, Colback, Edwards, Townsend, Griffiths, Lambe, Civelli, Priskin, Scotland, Wickham, Murray.