Town boss Paul Lambert insists his team will be capable of scoring enough goals despite joint-top scorers Kayden Jackson and James Norwood being unavailable. Freddie Sears and Teddy Bishop look set to come into the reckoning for a start in their absence, while youngsters Armando Dobra, Ben Morris and Tommy Hughes could play a part from the bench.
Jackson is suspended for three games following his red card against Oxford, while Norwood is out for a number of weeks having undergone groin surgery for the second time this season.
"Without a doubt we’ll create things,” Lambert said when asked if there is enough firepower in his team without his two top scorers, who have grabbed 22 of the Blues’ 45 league goals this season.
"Now you need guys to really hit the money shot really, whether it’s Freddie coming back or Bish coming back or Will [Keane] coming back.
"Those guys have to score, and not just those guys, we’ve got to have more goals from everybody else, you can’t just rely on your forwards to score. But we’ll certainly score, we’ve just got to take those chances when they come.”
Asked how close Sears, who returned from his ACL injury at the end of December, and Bishop, who came back from a knee problem at the start of January before having a minor setback more recently, are to starting a league game, Lambert said: "The two of them have done great to get back to where they are. Freddie was absolutely brilliant for us when we first came in and then he got his knee injury.
"Bish, you probably know better than I do, has been a big talent, up and down with his injuries, but you’ve got to play for somebody to recognise how good you can be.
"If we can keep the two of them fit, they’re not too far away from games. I think that’s important and the big thing for me is for them to be fit and healthy for the remainder of it, and staying on the pitch.
"Freddie I think is in a really good place. Bish, because he’s had the stop-start thing, hopefully, touch wood, he’s going to be OK.”
He added: "I won’t take a risk with somebody’s health, I think that’s unfair to the player, it’s unfair to the club and his team-mates as well.
"I’ll have a chat with the lads and see where they are. I wouldn’t take a risk with somebody’s health, I never have done and I never will.
"If the guys are fit, and they tell me they’re fit and they feel good [then they’ve got a chance]. The big thing for me will be when Freddie gets a right good tackle and he bounces up and he goes again. Then I think he’s definitely able to come through that.
"You’ve got to remember that that injury is a bad, bad injury. But so far, he’s had little knocks but not one real crunching one where you’ve wondered whether he’s going to get back up from it. I guess that will always be the one that he’s probably waiting for himself.”
Below Sears and Bishop, Lambert’s other options include Dobra, 18, 20-year-old Morris and Hughes, 19, however, the Blues boss doesn’t want to put too much pressure on young players.
"What I don’t want to do with the young ones is heap that pressure on them so we rely on the young ones to grasp the nettle,” he said.
"It would be different if we were a team full of totally experienced guys but we’ve got a lot of young guys as well.
"When I was breaking in I had mostly experienced guys to help me playing. If Dobs comes in or other guys, Ben Morris or Tommy Hughes, they’ve all been doing great the kids, doing really, really well, they’ve got young guys to help them, Flynn, Bishop, they’re all youngish guys.
"So, that’s why it would be unfair. But do I have a problem with playing Dobra or any of the guys, no because I’ve done it with them. But I don’t want to do is just say to the young kids, ‘OK, he’s playing, you’re the one that’s going to catapult us up the league, it’s a bit unfair on them.”
On the other hand Lambert concedes that young players can play with a fearlessness: "You can definitely get that, without a doubt. It’s one of the ones you judge. I don’t have a problem with Dobra because I think his mentality is very strong. I think all the kids, most of them they play without fear just because of the way they are here.”
Like Sears, Morris is on his way back from almost a year out with an ACL injury: "The same, a long time out. The kids have had really bad injuries as well. There have been some horrific ones here. The timescale, it’s not just been a few weeks, it’s been nearly a year [some of] the kids have been out.”
Lambert says that if Morris, Dobra and Hughes get an opportunity from the bench, they have a chance to stake a claim for more regular involvement.
"That’s it. I always say, somebody’s misfortune is somebody’s gain,” he added. "That’s football, that’s how it works.
"But do I have a problem with the kids? No, because I know exactly what I see with them here. I watch them train with us at certain times and they step up to the plate, they all do really, really well. I don’t have a problem with them playing.”