Boss Jim Magilton says he expects both Gareth McAuley and Alex Bruce to be fit enough to face Swansea at Portman Road on Saturday after returning from international duty with niggles. McAuley has a hamstring problem and Bruce an abductor strain.

Magilton said: "Gareth, I am sure, will be OK and we will be looking at him again today, while I also expect no problems with Alex Bruce after he returned early from Republic of Ireland duty.

"We came back from the two-week break last month to beat Reading and go on a run and we are looking for the same surge this time around.

"I watched Swansea play on television against Cardiff recently and was highly impressed and know that we must win the right to play before we can express ourselves fully.

"It should be a good, open game, and we are at home so I would expect us to win.”

Bruce looks likely to take a place on the bench with McAuley and Richard Naylor making up the central defensive pairing. The former Leicester man says he hasn't been entirely impressed with his form since moving to the Blues: "I have not come off the field feeling convinced that I have played as well as I can and this is possibly because I have tried to change my game.

"At Ipswich we like to get the ball down and pass it and I have altered my way of playing to adjust to this.

"There are decisions that I have to make on the field that could be improved and this is something I am working on.”

Moritz Volz will be on the right and David Wright on the left of the defence with Ben Thatcher still out for a few more weeks due to his torn thigh muscle. Tommy Smith is out until March with a broken ankle, while Pim Balkestein is available if called upon after his groin problem.

Jim Magilton has admitted that he is toying with giving Shane Supple a start in place of the inconsistent Richard Wright, but will probably continue with the former England international against the Swans.

Midfield is again the area of the side where Magilton has greatest choice. Jon Walters and Alan Quinn look settled as the widemen, but centrally Owen Garvan, David Norris, Iván Campo, Veliche Shumulikoski and Tommy Miller are all vying for places.

The Town manager is likely to use a four-man midfield at home with Garvan or Campo perhaps most likely to start alongside the more mobile Norris.

Tommy Miller, who coach Bryan Klug says deserves a call into George Burley's Scotland squad, is over the hip problem which forced him off at Charlton a fortnight ago, while winger Jaime Peters is out of contention for a place in the squad due to a medial ligament problem.

Up front, Jon Stead and Pablo Couñago are expected to continue their promising partnership with Kevin Lisbie and Danny Haynes looking to play a role from the bench.

Swansea boss Roberto Martinez says his side have to avoid repeating their 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace after the last two-week gap for international fixtures: "We need to make sure we learn our lessons from the last international break.

"We took too long to get back to being ourselves last month. We allowed our intensity to drop in the first half hour at Crystal Palace and at this level you get heavily punished if you let that happen.”

A former team-mate of Jon Walters at Chester, Martinez says his team need to play as they did in their 3-1 home victory over high-flying Wolves a fortnight ago: "The performance against Wolves and the first half hour at Palace were two extremes.

"It's going to be hard to start where we left off against Wolves, where we had momentum and great tempo in our play.

"You could see a trend developing in the second half at Reading, the Preston game and then Wolves.

"We have to try to get back to that level against Ipswich and, if we can manage that, it will be a sign of the progress we're making.

"It would show that we are more mature as a squad and that would be a great achievement.”

The newly-promoted Swans, currently eighth in the table on 15 points with two wins and three defeats on the road this season, are likely to be without winger Andrea Orlandi, who has a quad problem.

Trinidad and Tobago international striker Jason Scotland is due to arrive back in London today after playing in his nation's 2-1 victory over the US in midweek and will meet up with the squad at their hotel.

Wales U21 international Shaun MacDonald reported a slight ankle problem after their play-off second leg against England but is expected to be fine for the Town game.

Historically, the Blues just about have the edge over the Swans, winning nine matches (seven in the league), losing eight (eight) and drawing six (five).

The teams most recently met in the FA Cup fourth round at Portman Road in January last year when an Alan Lee penalty was the difference between the sides.

In the league, you have to go back to the 1982/83 season to find games between the sides when goals from Russell Osman, John Wark and George Burley helped the Blues to a 3-1 home victory over the Welshmen, Leighton James scoring the consolation.

At the Vetchfield later in the season, Paul Mariner and Ante Rajković scored the goals as the teams played out a 1-1 draw.

No member of the current Town squad has played for Swansea, while no present Blues player has represented the Swans.

Fans are reminded that an extra 100 police will be on duty at Saturday's game and that Portman Road will be closed off to home supporters after the final whistle. The moves follow trouble involving Swansea supporters at their recent game with Cardiff.

Saturday's referee is Jonathan Moss from West Yorkshire, who has shown 11 yellow and two red cards in eight games so far this season. Moss's last Town game was the 4-0 away defeat at West Brom in September 2007 in which he booked Jason De Vos, Dan Harding and the Baggies' Leon Barnett.

Likely squad: R Wright, Supple, Volz, D Wright, Naylor, McAuley, Bruce, Balkestein, Campo, Garvan, Miller, Shumulikoski, Norris, Quinn, Walters, Stead, Couñago, Lisbie, Haynes.

Photo: Action Images

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