Town boss Jim Magilton is waiting on the outcome of Alex Bruce's appeal against Wednesday's red card before he can decide whether to name an unchanged side when Cardiff City visit Portman Road on Saturday. Bruce's case will be put to an FA Regulatory Commission at 1pm today.

If the central defender fails to make it, club captain Richard Naylor will come into the team alongside team captain Gareth McAuley at the centre of the defence.

Town are otherwise likely to be unchanged with David Norris (dead leg) and Moritz Volz (ankle) having picked up minor knocks in the 3-1 victory over Bristol City but both are expected to train today and be fine to face the Bluebirds.

Norris should continue at the centre of the midfield alongside Veliche Shumulikoski, with Jon Walters on the right and Darren Ambrose on the left. If the former Plymouth man fails to make it, Owen Garvan will return to the side.

Volz will be at right-back, David Wright at left-back and Richard Wright in goal. while Pablo Couñago and Jon Stead will probably continue up front with Danny Haynes and Kevin Lisbie options from the bench.

Boss Jim Magilton says his side need to put in a consistent spell of form ahead of Christmas: "We have had ups and downs in this first half of the season. We have had a look at every team and they have had a look at us so it is important now to get a run together.

"We can use the Christmas period as a springboard for the rest of the season. We have enough games to have a real go still.”

Cardiff, currently sixth with an away record of won two, drawn seven and lost two, have an injury concern regarding striker Jay Bothroyd, who picked up a knee problem during the midweek 2-2 draw at Burnley. The former Wolves man has undergone a scan and whether he plays against Town depends on the results.

The Bluebirds are already without top scorer Ross McCormack, who has a hamstring injury and Eddie Johnson, on loan from Fulham, could return against Town.

Midfielder Stephen McPhail is back after a two-match ban, while Tony Capaldi is close to a return to action after knee surgery, as is Peter Whittingham, a long-term absentee after rupturing ankle ligaments.

Manager Dave Jones appears certain to recall skipper McPhail and is considering other changes to his side: "Stephen sets the tempo for our team, he is the catalyst for everything we do.

"We have players returning to fitness and we'll assess exactly where we are today.

"Tony Capaldi was with us at Burnley, Riccy Scimeca was among the substitutes and Peter Whittingham is making good progress.”

Overall, the Blues have beaten Cardiff on 14 occasions (12 in the league), have lost nine times (eight) and 10 matches (10) have ended in draws.

Last season, Town lost 1-0 at Ninian Park, Paul Parry scoring the only goal, then in April the sides played out a 1-1 draw at Portman Road, Jordan Rhodes netting his first senior goal for the Blues after Gavin Rae had put the visitors in front.

No current Cardiff player has previously been a Blue, although Town were linked with central defender Roger Johnson in the summer. Contrary to some reports no bid was ever lodged, with the Blues signing Gareth McAuley instead.

Cardiff striker Warren Feeney's grandfather Jim Feeney played for Town in the 1950s. Feeney junior is currently on loan at Dundee United.

None of Jim Magilton's squad have ever played for Cardiff, although Ben Thatcher is a former Welsh international.

Saturday's referee is Andy Woolmer from Northampton, who has shown 41 yellow and three red cards in 19 games so far this season. Woolmer's last Town game was the 3-0 home victory over Wolves last season in which he booked only Alan Lee.

Woolmer was the referee in the midweek FA Cup tie between Town's prospective third round opponents Chesterfield and Droylsden in which the Spireites scored a goal after the Bloods had put the ball out for a throw to allow treatment to an injured player and the Blue Square North side were subsequently allowed to score unchallenged by the League Two team.

Town: R Wright, Supple, D Wright, Volz, Thatcher, McAuley, Naylor, Bruce, Balkestein, Shumulikoski, Norris, Garvan, Miller, Ambrose, Walters, Quinn, Couñago, Stead, Lisbie, Haynes.

Photo: Action Images

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