Town boss Mick McCarthy will hope to have striker Daryl Murphy available for today’s game at Charlton despite the Irishman suffering a knee injury in the second half of Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Bristol City.
Speaking after that game, McCarthy said: "Daryl got a nasty knock on his knee at the end and I’m hoping that he’ll be OK.”
The Blues boss had been expecting to need to utilise his squad during the festive run of fixtures with matches coming thick and fast: "Certainly I can’t imagine that 10 outfield players are going to compete in four games on the 22nd, 26th, 29th and the 1st. So, I’ll be needing everybody.
"I can’t forward plan for who is going to be completely knackered and who’s going to cart them around, they might all be after two games.
"It’ll be about getting them to make sure they recover properly and if there’s somebody struggling with injury, I know who I can play in that position already. You’re always forward planning, it’s always in your head to look for a contingency."
If Murphy isn’t fit, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas is likely to take his place up front alongside DJ Campbell with Michael Chopra pushing for a place in the side having impressed from the bench against the Robins.
In midfield, Lee Martin and skipper Carlos Edwards are likely to continue in the wide roles with Guirane N’Daw and Andy Drury probably the central players, although McCarthy may consider a change with the latter perhaps dropping out in favour of Nigel Reo-Coker or Luke Hyam.
At the back, Stephen Henderson will continue in goal with Bradley Orr at right-back, Aaron Cresswell at left-back and Tommy Smith and Luke Chambers in the centre.
For the Addicks, one-time Blues trialist Lawrie Wilson is suspended having reached five bookings with manager Chris Powell believing the former Stevenage man will be a big miss: "I've lost Lawrie, who has made a really big difference for us.
"We started off ever so well [in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday] and created chances and he was at the hub of that. Sadly he will have a rest on Boxing Day."
Better news for Powell - who will be in charge of the Addicks for the 100th time - is that another midfielder Dale Stephens is back after a one-match suspension, while ex-Blues loan striker Ricardo Fuller may be ready for a start having been a sub at the weekend after a hamstring problem.
Cedric Evina (knee),Rhoys Wiggins (foot), Andy Hughes (Achilles’ tendon) and Ade Azeez (hamstring) are longer-term absentees.
The sides are very evenly matched over the years, the Blues winning 18 games (14 in the league), Charlton 18 (15) and nine (eight) ending in draws.
In September, Town fell to their second home defeat in a week as Charlton defeated the Blues 2-1 at Portman Road. Addicks skipper Johnnie Jackson and ex-Town loanee Ricardo Fuller netted shortly after the break with a deflected Jason Scotland strike the Blues’ only reply.
Town were last at the Valley in October 2008 when the Addicks ran out 2-1 winners, the goals coming from Bailey and a Moritz Volz own goal at one end and an own goal by Martin Crainie at the other.
Former Blues derby hero Danny Haynes is now back at Charlton, the club from whom he joined the Town academy, while Fuller joined him at the Valley in the summer. Young keeper Nick Pope was a schoolboy with the Blues academy before moving on to Bury Town and then Charlton a year ago.
Suspended midfielder Lawrie Wilson had a trial at Portman Road in 2006 during his previous spell at the Valley. He re-signed for the Addicks this summer after impressing at Stevenage.
Blues midfielder Lee Martin was on loan at the Valley for the first half of the 2010/11 season before being recalled by Paul Jewell, while recent Town signing Kelly Youga made 69 starts and two sub appearances for the Addicks between July 2005 and May 2011.
Today’s referee is Mick Russell from Hertfordshire, who has shown 57 yellow cards and three red in 26 games so far this season. Russell’s most recent Town match was the 2-2 home draw with Huddersfield earlier in the campaign in which he booked one player from each side.
Squad from: Henderson, Loach, Lee-Barrett, Orr, Hewitt, Cresswell, Mings, Chambers, Smith, Higginbotham, Mohsni, N’Daw, Drury, Hyam, Reo-Coker, Edwards, Carson, Emmanuel-Thomas, Martin, Murphy, Campbell, Chopra, Murray, Scotland.