Boss Paul Jewell looks likely to make a number of changes to his side for Scunthorpe’s visit to Portman Road on Saturday but says his options are limited until he can bring in his own players in the summer. TWTD understands that Arran Lee-Barrett is set to come into the side in goal, while academy youngster Josh Carson will also be in the squad.
Jewell, who is likely to be without skipper David Norris with an ankle injury, while Colin Healy could return from his torn stomach muscle problem, says he always reflects on his starting XI regardless of the previous result: "I always consider the team selection whether we win, lose or draw, it doesn’t matter. Every game is taken on its merits.
"We’ve not got that many real options. We haven’t got the biggest squad in the world, but that’s the way it is for the time being.
"We’ve just got to make do with what we’ve got and try and get through to the summer and then try and improve the squad to have a fresh outlook for next season. I may make changes or I may not.”
Whether that might include a switch from his 4-3-3 formation was also still to be decided when the Blues boss spoke at Thursday’s press conference: "I haven’t made my mind up. We’re a couple of days before the game and I’ll decide on that on Friday.”
Jewell says this week’s sacking of Scunthorpe manager Ian Baraclough is a sign of football's short-term thinking which rarely leads to success: "I’m not surprised because nothing surprises me in football, but I’m disappointed for Ian because he’s a young manager who was having his first go and had some decent results.
"They beat Forest the other week, they beat Swansea as well, so they’re no mugs Scunthorpe.
"They’re typical of the league really. We’ve got three out of the bottom four to play at home. On paper people think that’s easy but it’s very, very tough this league, because it’s very even.”
The Town boss says he doesn’t know caretaker-boss Tony Daws well, although he has faced him on the field: "I’ve played against him when he was at Bury and Scunny, he was a good little striker.
"It’s an opportunity for him. The circumstances in which you get the job are never the right ones, but hopefully he’ll get beaten on Saturday and then from then on he’ll be OK.”
Amongst Jewell’s selection dilemmas will be whether to give loan midfielder Kieron Dyer his first home start for the Blues in 12 years, the 32-year-old having come off the bench on Tuesday: "With Kieron’s situation we have to be guided a little bit by him.
"He was fairly stiff on Sunday and Monday after 70 minutes at Leeds and didn’t think he was ready to start and that’s why we had him on the bench.
"Obviously we have to treat him with kid gloves to a certain extent because we don’t want to break him down. In an ideal situation he’ll start and come off with 10 or 20 minutes to go when we’re 3-0 up. That’s utopia, isn’t it?”
As he seeks to make that utopian vision a reality, TWTD understands that Arran Lee-Barrett will come into the side in goal in place of Márton Fülöp in goal. The former Hartlepool man will be making his first appearance for the first team since February 2010.
Mark Kennedy and Carlos Edwards as his full-backs. Gareth McAuley and Damien Delaney will continue in the centre with Tommy Smith having joined Colchester on loan for the season.
In midfield, the Blues boss again seems set to start with a central three with skipper Norris appearing unlikely to return, despite being available again after suspension, due to a recurrence of the ankle injury he sustained at Barnsley.
Dyer will probably come into the side for Andy Drury, playing ahead of Grant Leadbitter and Jimmy Bullard, although his partner Josie is still to give birth to their fourth child, something which could potentially rule him out. In which case, Drury or Colin Healy, who was back in training this week after his stomach injury, will play.
We also understand that Northern Ireland U21 international midfielder Josh Carson, an academy second-year scholar, is in the squad having travelled to Leeds last week, although a first senior start would be a shock. The 17-year-old, who has impressed in the reserves this season, was previously on the bench at Exeter earlier in the season.
Lee Martin has had a quieter couple of games and Jewell might consider resting the former Manchester United man, perhaps giving Luciano Civelli or Shane O’Connor their first starts under his management.
Connor Wickham will continue in the other wide role, probably starting on the right if Civelli or O’Connor come into the side.
Jason Scotland could take over from Tamás Priskin in the lone central striking role, the Hungarian having failed to impress since taking over from the Trinidadian at Leeds.
Iron caretaker-manager Daws says he should have Andy Hughes available despite the former Norwich midfielder suffering a facial injury in Tuesday’s 3-0 home defeat to Preston: "Andy trained on Tuesday morning and he's keen to play. He kept contacting us on Wednesday to tell us he was fine and available for Saturday.
"He was on the training pitch on Thursday morning so that's looking quite promising. He hasn't broken his nose, he has stitches in and it's quite swollen but hopefully he will be all right."
Midfielder Sam Togwell and left-back Ben Gordon have had hamstring problems but both should be back: "Sam was on the training ground too and said that he wasn't feeling his hamstring.
"He's coped fine with everything that we've done in training on Thursday so hopefully, fingers crossed, there will be no reaction.
"I spoke to Ben, and he feels fine. He joined in with training on Thursday morning and got through plenty of work with no reaction."
The caretaker-boss has hinted that goalkeeper Joe Murphy (ankle), defender Cliff Byrne (calf) and midfielder Garry Thompson (groin) are all closing in on a return to first team action but all seem unlikely to be involved on Saturday.
Daws says his assistant Lee Turnbull saw the Blues in action on Tuesday: "Lee went to watch Ipswich lose 3-0 at home to Watford on Tuesday night and they are a side who are a little bit inconsistent.
"They're in a position where they are relatively safe. They have some good players there and we have to make sure we deal with them right on the day.
"I think, from our perspective, what we've got to concern ourselves about is us. If we can get the right players on the pitch, with the right mentality and the right game plan then it's about what we do.
"We're going to go and attack them. We need to win games to get out of trouble. We're not going to go there and sit back hoping for a 0-0 or to sneak a win because if you just defend for 90 minutes you will invariably concede a goal.
"I think at this stage of the season we're playing catch up in terms of points and we have to go for it.”
Scunthorpe have only beaten the Blues once in history, a 4-0 win at the Old Showground back in Town’s 1960/61 Second Division championship season. Other than that, the Blues have won eight (six in the league) and drawn four (four).
In September, second half sub Jaime Peters netted Town’s equaliser in a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Glanford Park. The home side had gone ahead in the first half through David Mirfin with both teams having more than a few opportunities to win it late on.
At Portman Road last season, Connor Wickham struck his first league goal for the Blues in injury time to give Town a 1-0 win.
Both sides ended the match with 10 men, Iron defender Cliff Byrne was red-carded for an off the ball elbow on Jack Colback, then Damien Delaney was more harshly sent off for a trip on halfway, a dismissal which was subsequently overturned. No member either current squad has played for the opposition.
Saturday’s referee is David Webb from Lancashire, who has shown 74 yellow cards and four red in 24 games so far this season. Webb has never previously taken control of a game involving the Blues.
Squad from: Lee-Barrett, Fülöp, Edwards, Kennedy, Delaney, McAuley, O’Dea, Leadbitter, Bullard, Dyer, Healy, Drury, Peters, Hyam, Carson, Martin, Wickham, Civelli, O’Connor, Scotland, Priskin.