Manager Mick McCarthy is keeping his cards close to his chest regarding any team changes he is planning ahead of Saturday’s game at Derby County. The Blues are without a win since the opening day of the season.
A year ago, after Town had lost three of their first four Championship games, McCarthy made five changes to his side ahead of the fixture at Birmingham.
This season, having started with a home victory over Fulham, the Blues have picked up only a point from their subsequent three matches prompting speculation that the Town boss might do the same at Derby.
However, McCarthy was typically tight-lipped at his pre-match press conference: "I thought it required that at the time, whether it requires it now I guess you’ll know at two o’clock on Saturday afternoon when the teamsheet goes up.”
With Conor Sammon ineligible against his parent club, Stephen Hunt (calf) and Cameron Stewart (broken jaw) unavailable until after the international break and Jack Marriott one of four players out on loan, the Blues manager admits he doesn’t have a wealth of options at his disposal.
"It is a tight-knit squad so when I’m asked whether I’m going to make lots of changes you can see that there aren’t too many changes which can be made,” he added. "But we’ll get the team out, no problem.”
McCarthy reflected ruefully on last year’s visit to the iPro Stadium when the Blues ought to have recorded their fifth win in six games at the Rams’ home ground.
"I look back on the 4-4 the same as I did at the time. It’s a dreadful thing to be 4-1 up and draw four-all,” he admitted. "But I wonder how they think about being 1-0 up here and we beat them 2-1.”
The 4-4 draw saw newly-appointed manager Steve McClaren effectively take control at half-time, the former England manager giving a teamtalk and switching formation having watched the first half from the stands. The turnaround proved to be the start of a run which saw the Rams finish third in the Championship before losing in the play-off final to QPR.
"Our game when we played them was the start for them,” McCarthy recalled. "He’s got two good wingers in Johnny Russell and Jamie Ward. Chris Martin is a really good player, a good striker.
"Everybody and his grandmother fancies Will Hughes as a player and fancies getting him out of there. There’s a lot of talk about Jeff Hendrick and Craig Bryson scored 16 goals from midfield last season.
"They’ve just got a really solid team of good players. They’ll be in the mix for the top two without any doubt.”
While Rams will feel they were unfortunate not to be in the top flight already, having dominated the play-off final before succumbing to Bobby Zamora’s late goal for 10-man QPR, McCarthy isn’t so sure that that’s the way to look at it.
"I keep saying to the players that you can say they were unlucky but was it unlucky or should they have scored when they had their chances and should they have kept the goal out?” he said.
"When you miss and people go ‘unlucky!’. No it’s not, it might be a bad miss or bad technique or the keeper might make a good save. I don’t subscribe to that unlucky business.
"I know there are times when you get a deflection, I’d say that’s unlucky, but when you’ve dominated somebody you have to go and win the game.
"Unfortunately for them they didn’t do it and we’ll be playing them on Saturday and they’re a damn good team, believe me. I’ve been watching their games and it’ll be a really tough game.
"I’m looking forward to the game. It is a big game, but I haven’t played in a small one yet this year.”
One of the selection decisions McCarthy will have to weigh-up is whether to switch his goalkeepers, as he did at Birmingham a year ago with Dean Gerken then coming in for Scott Loach.
This time it’s Gerken whose place is under threat following the mix-up which led to Norwich’s winner last week and summer signing Bartosz Bialkowski may well be handed his Blues league debut.
The Town boss will probably stick with his backline of skipper Luke Chambers on the right, Tyrone Mings on the left and Christophe Berra and Tommy Smith in the centre, although Jonny Parr could come into his thinking for the left-back role.
In midfield, McCarthy will have to decide whether to switch to match Derby’s 4-3-3 system. If he does, Jay Tabb could join Cole Skuse and Luke Hyam in the three, while Kevin Bru or even Teddy Bishop are other options.
That would probably see a front three of Daryl Murphy on the left, Paul Anderson on the right and David McGoldrick in the middle.
If McCarthy sticks with his regular 4-4-2, he doesn’t appear to have too many experienced alternatives to the midfield quintet which started last week and seems unlikely to risk youngsters or Bru, who is yet to start a Championship game. McGoldrick and Murphy would be the strikers.
Rams manager McClaren believes Town will be testing opponents, his side having beaten Fulham 5-1 last Saturday and Charlton 1-0 in the Capital One Cup in midweek.
"We’ve had three games this week and I think we started well against Fulham and continued that against Charlton,” he told Derby’s official site.
"But I think the toughest test of the week is yet to come with Ipswich because any team of Mick McCarthy’s is very difficult to play against.
"Mick’s got a good squad — they did well here last year and they’ll be looking to do well again.
"It’s the biggest challenge of the three games this week and it’ll be nice if we can finish the week well before the international break.”
Defender Jack Buxton will be available having trained, despite an ongoing hip niggle. The ex-Burton Albion man is expected to return having been rested for the Charlton game, along with winger Ward and midfielder John Eustace. On-loan Stoke defender Ryan Shotton made his debut against the Addicks.
The Rams have completed the signing of 18-year-old Liverpool wideman Jordon Ibe on a season-long loan.
Historically, Town have had the better of Derby, winning 33 games (31 in the league), drawing 20 (18) and losing 24 (23). Town have an excellent record at the iPro Stadium, having won four of their last six, drawing the other two.
In March at Portman Road, a dramatic Christophe Berra goal in injury time saw the Blues come from behind to beat Derby 2-1 and move to within two points of the play-off zone.
The Rams went ahead through Patrick Bamford in the opening minute, Jonny Williams equalised with a brilliant second half strike before Berra’s last-gasp winner.
In October, in that remarkable 4-4 draw at the iPro Stadium, Daryl Murphy scored twice and Christophe Berra and Aaron Cresswell once each before the break with the home side having pulled one back through Zak Whitbread.
The second half was almost constant Rams pressure and they eventually grabbed a point with skipper Bryson scoring twice and Ward once.
Rams centre-half Richard Keogh was an academy schoolboy and Portman Road ballboy during his formative years, but no current member of Derby squad has previously represented the Blues, aside from unavailable loanee Sammon.
Saturday’s referee is Eddie Ilderton from Tyne and Wear, who has shown six yellow cards and no red in three games so far this season.
Ilderton’s last Town match was the 1-0 defeat at Millwall in January in which he booked two Blues - Carlos Edwards and Paul Taylor - and one home player.
Squad from: Bialkowski, Gerken, Chambers, Hewitt, Mings, Parr, Smith, Berra, Clarke, Skuse, Hyam, Bru, Bishop, Anderson, Tabb, Henshall, McGoldrick, Murphy, Bajner, Nouble.