New loan signing Bradley Orr will make his Town debut as the Blues travel to Leicester looking to climb out of the Championship's bottom three. Boss Mick McCarthy will make at least two changes to the side which beat Burnley 2-1 at Portman Road a week ago.
McCarthy has confirmed that Orr will start having joined until January 26th from Blackburn, but says new short-term signing Kelly Youga won’t be in his squad: "I don’t think he’s fit enough for that yet.”
Orr will be at right-back with Luke Chambers probably switching back to central defence, despite the Blues boss having been impressed with Tommy Smith last week and admitting that the New Zealand international had given him a decision to make.
Smith was due back in training on Friday morning having flown back from international duty with the All Whites in China yesterday.
Aaron Cresswell will be at left-back with Danny Higginbotham the left-sided centre-half and Stephen Henderson in goal.
In midfield, skipper Carlos Edwards will continue in the right midfield role he occupied against Burnley with Guirane N’Daw and Nigel Reo-Coker in the centre of midfield with the latter expected to get over a cold which kept him out of training on Thursday.
Richie Wellens returned to Leicester at the end of his loan after the victory over the Clarets and could be in the Foxes squad on Saturday.
Andy Drury may be the man to replace the 32-year-old in the tucked-in left-sided midfield role, although McCarthy otherwise could look to Lee Martin — available again after a one-match ban — to play as a more orthodox winger.
Up front, DJ Campbell and Daryl Murphy are set to continue the partnership which yielded a goal each during last week’s 2-1 victory.
Elliott Hewitt will again be on the bench and having impressed his manager at Walsham in the week could be in line for his Blues debut at some stage.
Second-choice keeper Scott Loach misses out due to the dead leg he suffered at Walsham on Tuesday. Striker Paul Taylor is out for the season having undergone foot surgery.
McCarthy says Leicester, who are fifth in the Championship 17 places and 14 points ahead of the Blues, impressed him during last week’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest: "They’re a good side. I watched them last week against Nottingham Forest and I thought they were unlucky not to win that game.
"I thought they played really well and I watched it again yesterday for our scouting benefit. They’re a good side, they’ve got good pace in wide areas.
"David Nugent and Martyn Waghorn are a good front two. Andy King scores goals from midfield and they’ve got Danny Drinkwater. They’re well-balanced and they just look a real solid team. They’ll be threatening the promotion places, definitely.”
The Blues boss says he has been pleased with his side during two of his first three games in charge but says there still a lot of work to be done: "Six points out of nine, we’d have all taken that, that’s for sure.
"But I’m not kidding myself that it’s all sweetness and light and everything’s just going to be fine because of it.”
McCarthy says he and assistant Terry Connor have had a good week on the training ground with one particular area their main focus: "This week’s been great, we’ve had a really good week with them.
"From day one we started trying to be organised and hard to beat, and we have continued in the games. That theme has got to run throughout the season — be hard to beat.
"You always get a chance, whether it’s a freekick, a corner or a long throw. You always get a chance from somewhere.
"But if we keep shipping goals the way we were doing, it’s always going to make life difficult. That’s been the theme running through it.
"That’s based on a team performance, not just on the goalkeeper and the back four. That’s making it stick up front, that’s keeping hold of it when we can, being a bit considered in possession, there are lots of reasons why you give goals away.”
Foxes boss Nigel Pearson is hoping to be able to call on strikers David Nugent (neck) and Jamie Vardy (calf) and full-back Paul Konchesky (hamstring) after injuries, while Wellens is back in the fold after his spell with the Blues.
Central defender Sean St Ledger, who came close to joining Town in January, has a hamstring strain, while loanee Michael Keane, also a centre-half, has gone back to parent club Manchester United for treatment on a similar problem. Midfielder Neil Danns has moved to Bristol City on loan.
Pearson says McCarthy coming in as boss will have boosted the Blues but believes his side will have to concentrate on their own performance: "Mick’s a very experienced manager and will be very keen to get his ideas across to the team.
"We’ve got to be mindful that there is a new face in there that might give them added impetus, but what we do ourselves will be the key.
"Ultimately we’ve got to get our own performance right and that we go about the game in the right way.”
The Foxes boss feels his side ought to have got more points from some of their recent matches: "In the two games we drew, Bolton away and at home against Forest, we deserved more, but we haven’t got it.
"That’s this league and we have to make sure we do what we can with the next opportunity to get maximum points.
"It remains a very tight league and a frustrating league to try to be consistent in.
"Those games have gone now so we have to look forward to the next game and try to take maximum points against Ipswich Town.”
Town have had the upper hand historically, winning 26 games between the sides (26 in the league), drawing 18 (17) and losing 23 (21).
The sides last met in April when Foxes striker David Nugent scored his obligatory goal at Portman Road as Leicester came from a goal behind to beat the Blues 2-1 and inflict what was their first home defeat since January 2nd.
Jason Scotland put the Blues deservedly in front in the 43rd minute but soon after Ben Marshall’s freekick went through both wall and Arran Lee-Barrett with Nugent heading in the winner in a second half dominated by the visitors.
In December, Lee Bowyer netted his second goal for Town at the King Power Stadium. Michael Chopra had already missed a penalty by the time Bowyer scored in the third minute, Paul Gallagher converting a Foxes spotkick for handball against Jason Scotland in the second half.
Blues loan striker DJ Campbell spent three years with the Foxes having joined them for £1.6 million in July 2007, making 25 starts and 25 sub appearances, scoring six goals.
Foxes manager Nigel Pearson was interviewed for the job as Town boss in 2006 but lost out to Jim Magilton.
Town U18s coach Russell Osman was with the Foxes between 1985 and 1988, while central defender Jide Maduako signed a professional deal at Leicester at the end of last season having been released by the Blues at the end of his scholarship.
Saturday’s referee is Keith Stroud from Hampshire, who has shown 50 yellow and two red cards in 14 games so far this season. Stroud’s most recent Town match was the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough in March in which he booked Tommy Smith and one of the Teessiders.
Henderson, Lee-Barrett, Orr, Hewitt, Cresswell, Chambers, Higginbotham, Smith, Mohsni, Hyam, N’Daw, Reo-Coker, Drury, Edwards, Carson, Emmanuel-Thomas, Martin, Murphy, Chopra, Campbell, Scotland.
Photo: ITFC