Blues boss Paul Jewell goes into Tuesday’s opening game of the season, the home Capital One Cup tie against Bristol Rovers, with a squad which he says is down to the “bare bones”. The Town manager is looking to add three more signings to his squad, while three probable starters are away on international duty and Andy Drury and one of his summer additions Elliott Hewitt are injured.
Jewell says Drury is suffering with the problem he picked up in the friendly at Southend, while Hewitt is still on the way back from the hip operations he underwent while with former club Macclesfield: "Andy Drury’s still got a calf problem and Elliott Hewitt’s out for a little while yet but he’s started to do some running which is a good sign.
"But we are stretched to the bare bones tomorrow evening - we’ve got to get a couple of new shirt numbers for the young players. The likes of Cormac Burke and Gunnar Thorsteinsson. It’ll be a young bench.”
The Blues manager says 16-year-old midfielder Byron Lawrence, who made his debut as a sub on the final day of last season, could make his first senior start: "He’s in with a chance of starting tomorrow. He’ll definitely be in the 18.
"I haven’t decided on the team yet. We’ll see how everybody is, we’ll have a bit of a roll call in the morning.”
Jewell says striker Nathan Ellington will also be in his squad with the team that starts likely to be as near to his best XI as is available for selection.
Damien Delaney is away with the Republic of Ireland squad, Ronan Murray with their U21s, while Josh Carson has been promoted to Northern Ireland’s senior side for their friendly with Finland in Belfast on Wednesday due to injuries, having initially been named in their U21s.
Meanwhile, prospective signing Cheick Kourouma is to be sent for a scan after picking up a leg injury in training this morning. The 20-year-old Frenchman's move to the Blues has been held up by red tape relating to his former clubs.
Adult tickets for Tuesday's game start at £12 and under-16s for £1, full details here.