 Tuesday, 20th Oct 2009 08:38 Boss Roy Keane looks unlikely to make too many changes to his team for tonight’s home game against Watford. The Blues go into their 13th league match of the season still looking for their first victory but having picked up no new injuries in the draw with Swansea on Saturday. Keane rested midfielder Carlos Edwards at the weekend after the Trinidad and Tobago international only arrived back from the Caribbean on Friday lunchtime. The Blues boss says the former Sunderland man may well return to his side this evening, although he was happy enough with the performance, if not the result, against Swansea: “Carlos has done well since he’s come to the club, but I don’t want to be making changes for changes’ sake. “I think the starting 11 on Saturday all did well. I’ll have to look at the fitness side of things with the second game coming up so quickly, but we might stick with the same starting 11.” If he returns, Edwards will probably come in for Jaime Peters on the right of midfield with the Canadian perhaps in with a shout for a return to the left-back role, although Keane was impressed with David Wright against Swansea: “David Wright is an example to the other players at the football club. You’re going to have your disappointments, you’re going to be left out, players are going to get injured or suspended. “Wrighty’s kept his head down and is back in the team on merit. It’s not a case of having a load of injuries, he’s back in because he’s kept his head down and showed what a good pro he is. I thought he did very, very well for us on Saturday.” Keeper Asmir Begovic will keep his place in goal with Liam Rosenior at right-back. Keane will have to decide whether to continue with Gareth McAuley and Tommy Smith at the centre of the defence or whether to recall Alex Bruce. The Town manager says he is as yet undecided whether Bruce will take back the captaincy from Jon Walters if he returns to the side: “I’ll have a look at it. It’s not something I’ve thought too much about. ”I talked to Alex at the start of the season and said we’d see how it pans out. Obviously Alex has missed the last few games because of his groin injury and I think Jon Walters has enjoyed it, so that’s a decision for me to make if Alex gets back in the starting 11. “I think Jon’s led the team well, and I think Gareth has enjoyed the fact that he can just focus on his game. You’d like two or three captains in your team.” Aside from Edwards perhaps returning at right midfield, Keane will probably stick with Grant Leadbitter and Liam Trotter in the centre and Alan Quinn on the left. Up front, Jon Walters is likely to be partnered by either Pablo Couñago or Tamás Priskin, who will be up against his old club, with Keane hinting over the weekend that the Spaniard may not be able to play two games in four days after missing pre-season with injury. Connor Wickham will again be amongst the subs and ready to employ his monster throw-in if required, something Keane says is a useful addition to his armoury: “Pity he can’t follow the throw and head it himself! “We’ve also got Carlos and David Wright with a long throw. It’s nice for any player to have that in his locker. We’ve seen other teams take advantage of it and hopefully that’s something we can use.” Luciano Civelli, David Norris and Ben Thatcher remain on the sidelines with their knee injuries. The Town boss says his side ought to have finally got that desperately required first league win on Saturday: “It is frustrating. When you look at the game at the weekend, we’ve had four or five really good chances and had one or two decisions go against us, with the offside against Pablo when he was clearly onside and in on goal. “We’re nearly there, but, as I’ve said many times before, we’ve never made it. We’ve got to get over the finish line in terms of taking our chances and trying to stay as solid as we can at the back. Obviously, we conceded one on Saturday, but I thought we looked a lot more solid. “It’s frustrating for everyone at the football club, for the players, for the supporters, the staff and myself. But it’s not really about me or what happens to me or how I feel, it’s about the players going out and performing. “I thought on Saturday they did that. The only fault I could find was that we didn’t take our chances. If we’re given those chances again on Saturday night, then we’ve got to take at least two of them.” Keane says that despite the winless run the players are still showing the right attitude: “If you’re in the dressing room before the game or you come and watch us training, the players are very much focused, I don't feel I have to lift them. "They are a decent bunch and they’re all training well and we have to believe that it will turn for us. Sometimes you need that little bit of luck to turn that corner and hopefully we might get that on Tuesday.” The Blues boss says Watford will be stiff opposition: “They’re a good team, they’ve got a good manager and some good players. They’ve got some young players in from United, who I know well. They’re having a very good season and it will be another very tough game for us. “As I’ve been saying for the last few weeks, we’ve got to enjoy the challenge that’s ahead and there’s nothing to be frightened of. We know there’s not a lot between a lot of the teams in the Championship, what we’re missing is consistency and getting that win under our belts and, please God, that might come on Tuesday. “I’m pleased with the players, they keep going, showing a good desire and I thought the supporters were outstanding on Saturday. They really got behind the team and we’ll need that again on Tuesday.” Watford currently sit in 12th position with an away record of won three, drawn two and lost one and are unbeaten in five away games. Midfielder Tom Cleverley, a loanee from Manchester United, is a doubt after being subbed in the 1-0 win at Middlesbrough on Saturday with a head injury. He will be assessed this morning before a decision is taken. Defender Jay DeMerit is definitely out, having undergone an eye operation over the weekend, while keeper Richard Lee is a doubt due to a knee problem. Midfielder John Eustace will be back after missing the Boro game through illness, but striker Heidar Helguson is not ready to return from a calf injury. Hornets manager Malky Mackay, a former Norwich player, says his side are making good progress this season: "I think the resilience the team showed against Middlesbrough and the courage they had to get the ball down and play really showed a growth in the group, which I was really happy about. "Obviously to get the result means a lot to us, as it does to the little band of travelling fans who made the long and winding road up to Middlesbrough as well. "Again, on Tuesday we are playing against a team who have managed to spend some money in the summer and bring in some quality players with a new manager at the helm. There are different pressures there for us and we know it’s going to be difficult. "I don’t think I’ve ever been over to Ipswich in the whole of my playing and managerial career and had an easy game, so I don’t expect anything other than a really tough tie." Town haven’t beaten Watford in nine games home and away since March 2004 when a Dean Bowditch hat-trick and a rarity from Jermaine Wright condemned the Hornets to a 4-1 defeat at Portman Road. Despite this recent poor record, the Blues have still had the better of Watford historically, winning 24 times (21 in the league), losing 19 (18) and drawing 15 (15). Last season, the Blues lost 2-1 at Vicarage Road despite Pablo Couñago putting them in front in the second minute. John Eustace and John-Joe O’Toole scored the Watford goals. At Portman Road in March, the sides played out a 0-0 draw. Tamás Priskin joined the Blues from Watford for £1.7 million in the summer and is the only ex-Watford player in Town ranks, while Hornets keeper Scott Loach was an academy youngster at Playford Road. Watford goalkeeper-coach Alec Chamberlain was also a youth player with the Blues but never made a first team appearance for Town, unlike Hornets first team coach David Kerslake, who made three starts and six sub appearances for George Burley’s side in the 1997/98 season. Tuesday’s referee is Trevor Kettle from Berkshire, who has shown 26 yellow cards and no reds in nine games so far this season. Kettle’s last Town game was the 2-0 home victory over QPR last season when he booked Blues midfielder Owen Garvan and Samuel Di Carmine from the visitors. Squad from: Begovic, Lee-Barrett, R Wright, Rosenior, D Wright, Delaney, McAuley, Smith, Bruce, Balkestein, Leadbitter, Trotter, Healy, Colback, Quinn, Edwards, Peters, Martin, Walters, Couñago, Priskin, Wickham, Stead.
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