Town are without suspended midfield duo David Norris and Alan Quinn for Saturday's visit by Blackpool. However, full-back Moritz Volz is back in contention after recovering from his groin injury.

Quinn and Norris both picked up their fifth yellow cards of the season at Swansea last week where they were in the starting line-up, the Irishman in central midfield and the ex-Plymouth man on the left.

Town are unlikely to play last week's five-man midfield at home and Owen Garvan and Tommy Miller may well keep their places in the centre. Veliche Shumulikoski will also be looking for a return to the side, while Liam Trotter's loan at Scunthorpe has been put on hold for the time being.

Jon Walters and Danny Haynes could well fill the wide roles, the ex-Chester man perhaps starting on the left to allow Haynes to come in on the right. New Argentinian signing Luciano Civelli is still short on match fitness, but may be handed a place on the bench and could play some role in the second half.

Up front, Jim Magilton will probably recall Pablo Couñago and Jon Stead with Kevin Lisbie having failed to replicate his generally good away form at home. Dean Bowditch could get a place on the bench after scoring four goals and creating several more for the reserves earlier in the week.

At the back, Richard Wright will stay in goal, while Gareth McAuley and Pim Balkestein are starting to become an established pair at centre-half. Iván Campo is still around a fortnight away from a return as he continues his recovery from his torn calf muscle.

Moritz Volz's availability gives manager Jim Magilton additional options at full-back. David Wright will probably continue on the left, but the Town boss could prefer Volz's greater attacking threat to Alex Bruce on the right.

Assistant manager John Gorman says it will be up to the team to get fans back on their side after the recent poor run at home: "The players have to lift the crowd. We want the crowd to lift the players but we have to give them something to make them happy.

"If we win Saturday, the place is lifted and we go into the Forest game on a high.”

Gorman doesn't expect the visitors to sit back in numbers as Plymouth did a fortnight ago: "They will come and play and have a go at us. Blackpool is an adventurous team they went to Palace and won with 10 men, so there are no mugs in this league.”

The Tangerines are currently in 15th position, six points and four places behind the Blues. Manager Simon Grayson left for Leeds in December and former Blackburn assistant boss Tony Parkes is currently their caretaker-manager, assisted by ex-Bolton, Leicester and Luton midfielder Steve Thompson.

The Seasiders' form away from home has been rather better their record at Bloomfield Road and currently reads won five, drawn five and lost five. At home they have won four, drawn five and lost seven.

Thompson says former Southampton striker Brett Ormerod could come into the reckoning for a place against Town after the 32-year-old scored twice for the reserves in midweek: "It was good for Brett to get two goals and get his fitness up. At half-time he said he was blowing a little, which is a good sign, but he scored the goals we expected him to.

"People questioned whether he still has that yard of pace and he answered them. You only have to look at last week's result and the squad we've got, and there is no one who has a divine right to play here. Brett has a decent chance.

"We travel to Ipswich on Friday, stop halfway down for a training session at Rushden, and then we'll decide on the team at the hotel that night."

Striker Ben Burgess is out of action due to medial knee ligament damage, while midfielder Keith Southern has an ankle injury. Stephen McPhee is on his way back from a knee problem but is unlikely to feature against Town.

Better news for the Tangerines is that Welsh international defender Rob Edwards (hamstring) and Stephen Crainey (hip) are both likely to be available having been out of action since the end of last month. Ex-Blue Jermaine Wright is also in contention for a place having been out with an achilles injury.

Midfielder Charlie Adam, on loan from Rangers, is suspended after being sent off against Doncaster a week ago, but Faroe Islands international Claus Jorgensen and goalkeeper Paul Rachubka are back after bans. Blackpool are reported to have failed in a bid to sign Burnley's Ade Akinbiyi on loan.

Town and the Tangerines have rarely met throughout their histories, but overall the Blues have had the upper hand, winning six times, drawing six and losing twice, one of those a League Cup tie in 1978/79, the only occasion the clubs have met in cup competition. The Seasiders have never won at Portman Road.

In November, Town won 1-0 at Bloomfield Road, David Norris netting the only goal, following it with his notorious goal celebration.

Last season, the Blues won 2-1 at home via goals from Veliche Shumulikoski and Jon Walters, Paul Dickov notching a late consolation with virtually everyone in the ground incorrectly assuming he was offside.

Jermaine Wright is the only ex-Blue in the Blackpool squad at present, although he hasn't played a first team game since August, while no current Town player has previously featured for the Seasiders.

There's no TWTD on sale on Saturday, but the new Ipswich ‘Til I Die book is being sold by members of Ipswich Town Ist in our usual spot by Sir Alf prior to the game. It is also available via Planet Blue and online from TWTD here.

Saturday's referee is Phil Crossley from Kent, who has shown 61 yellow and four red cards in 24 games so far this season. Crossley's last Town match was the 2-2 draw at Southampton earlier in the season in which he booked Pim Balkestein, Owen Garvan, Moritz Volz and Jon Walters and no Saints players.

Likely squad: R Wright, Supple, Volz, Bruce, D Wright, Thatcher, McAuley, Balkestein, Garvan, Miller, Shumulikoski, Walters, Haynes, Civelli, Trotter, Couñago, Stead, Lisbie, Bowditch.

Photo: Action Images

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