Boss Jim Magilton will be forced into one change when the Blues take on Charlton Athletic at Portman Road on Tuesday evening due to David Norris's red card at Plymouth on Saturday. The midfielder misses one game after being sent off for receiving a second yellow card against his old club.

Magilton says but for the dismissal he would have kept the same XI against the Addicks: "It would have been nice not to have made any changes but with David suspended we have to. Jon Stead, Pablo Couñago and Danny Haynes come into the reckoning.”

Couñago might be the favourite to take over from Norris with Jon Walters moving into the wide right role that the ex-Argyle man took up for much of the game at Home Park. That would see Couñago join Kevin Lisbie up front.

Owen Garvan and Veliche Shumulikoski became the first Town midfield pairing to play in more than one game this season at Plymouth on Saturday, having previously combined during the Sheffield Wednesday match. The Irishman and Macedonian formed a more than useful partnership against the Pilgrims and could well be emerging as Jim Magilton's first choice pairing.

At the back, the Blues are likely to continue unchanged again with David Wright on the left, Moritz Volz on the right, Gareth McAuley and Richard Naylor in the centre and Richard Wright in goal. Ben Thatcher is close to a return after his thigh injury but probably not yet ready for involvement, while Tommy Smith is out until March due to his broken ankle.

Magilton has urged the Portman Road crowd to get behind their side as the Blues look to record back-to-back league wins for the first time this season: "Charlton are always well organised, so we will have to be patient. The crowd are going to have to be patient and we are going to need the crowd.

"Although we finished strongly down there, the Charlton crowd stayed behind their team all the way, so we need our crowd to do the same.

"It is a big three points and that could set us up for Saturday against QPR and another win then would see us right up there staring at the play-off places.”

Last week, the Addicks received the bad news that their takeover by the Dubai-based Zabeel Investments group would not take place. Boss Alan Pardew says he and his squad need to ignore this and get on their jobs: "It was always in danger and unfortunately that has happened. As a playing staff and management we just have to move on quickly.

"We [the management] need to sit down with the board and discuss how we're going to take the club forward from here because obviously it was going to change and now it's not. "

Currently on the sidelines for the Addicks are defender Jonathan Fortune (knee) and midfielders Thierry Racon (metatarsal) and Zheng Zhi (foot).

Summer Town signing Kevin Lisbie spent 12 years at the Valley before joining Colchester in 2007, while Danny Haynes was a full-back in the Addicks' academy but was released at 16 when he joined Town. Ben Thatcher left Charlton over the summer after a new contract offer was withdrawn due to tighter financial constraints at the Valley.

Former Blues Matt Holland and Darren Ambrose are in Alan Pardew's squad at present, while Jim Magilton was keen to sign striker Andy Gray from Burnley in January when the Scot instead moved to the South Londoners.

Town have just about had the better of the Addicks over the years, the Blues winning 18 games (14 in the league), Charlton 17 (14) and eight (seven) ending in draws.

Earlier this month the Addicks beat the Blues 2-1 at the Valley, the goals coming from Nicky Bailey and a Moritz Volz own goal at one end and an own goal by Martin Crainie at the other.

Last season, Danny Haynes and Owen Garvan gave Town a 2-0 win at Portman Road, while the shocker of a first half at the Valley handed the Addicks a 3-0 lead at the break, Ambrose (2) and Chris Iwelumo having netted the goals. Pablo Couñago pulled one back with a 12-yard backheel in the second half and Alan Lee missed a penalty as the Blues went down 3-1, Jon Fortune picking up a post-final whistle red card for punching Lee.

Tuesday's referee is Kevin Wright from Cambridgeshire, who has shown 17 yellow cards and two red in eight games so far this season. Wright's last Town match was the 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace on the opening day of the 2007/08 season, Jim Magilton's first game in charge of the Blues.

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

Photo: Action Images

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