 Friday, 26th Feb 2010 13:24 Town boss Roy Keane is keeping the identities of three injured players under wraps ahead of the Blues’ first home game in three weeks against Bristol City on Saturday. The mystery trio are all doubts as Town looked to push on into mid-table and away from the Championship danger zone. Keane says the three will be given time before a decision is made: “There are three lads who haven’t trained and who might not today but I’ll give them every opportunity to see if they’re fit. “Sometimes you have to play with knocks, it’s different if it’s a muscle injury, but if a lad’s feeling something, good. If you’re not feeling something at this stage of the season, you’ve not been doing your job. “I’d be really concerned if my players were 100% fit. You have to be carrying something.” The Blues boss says his players are inevitably tired after four away games on the trot, the last three on very heavy pitches. Speaking first thing this morning, Keane said he had a light morning session planned for his squad: “I won’t decide my team until after training today. We’ll gauge it, their body language, but they’ve had a good rest, we played on Tuesday, it’s not as if it was Wednesday. “They were able to recover on Wednesday, day off on Thursday, we’ll do very little today with the pitches being heavy. And I mean very, very little, literally a feel for the ball and that will be it, although some of the players who didn’t play on Tuesday will have more of a game and we’ll take it from there.” The Town manager is pleased to finally be back at Portman Road: “It’s been a difficult run of games, playing the teams around us, a bit of travelling, so it’ll be nice to get back to being at home. But there are tough games coming up for us with another one tomorrow. “We’re pleased with taking seven points from the four away games, given the setback we had at Peterborough. There’s been a good reaction from the players and the supporters going up to Sheffield and Scunthorpe. “I suppose if you take seven points from four away games you think you’d be doing all right but we need to kick on. I’m sure people are sick of me saying it, but we need to go on a run of getting victories because we’re still down there fighting and we know that if we don’t get a result tomorrow and results go against us, we could be back in the bottom three or four. “We need to kick on now and if we perform like we have done in the last couple of games, we should be OK.” Keane felt that Bristol City’s 2-1 victory over West Brom last week typified the division: “That’s the Championship for you. I saw the game last week, that’s what happens to teams, they’re capable of beating those at the top. Some of our results haven’t been bad against some of the teams up there. “But what you have to do is be consistent and continue to put in performances and that’s why those teams are at the top, they’ve been more consistent than anybody else. We know that on our day we can cause any team problems, it’s doing it week-in, week-out.” Second guessing Keane’s team selection is even harder than usual without knowing the identities of the injured players, but the Blues boss will hope to be able to stick with home debutant Brian Murphy in goal. Richard Wright is not yet ready for a return even to the bench, despite coming through Wednesday’s reserve game without a problem. The Blues boss has been pleased if not overwhelmed by central defensive duo Gareth McAuley and Damien Delaney, while he will have to choose from David Wright and Liam Rosenior at right-back. Wright is understood to be over a shoulder problem, while Rosenior is fine after being ill last week. Keane admits that Jaime Peters will come into his thoughts for the left-back role up against similarly pacy ex-Blue Danny Haynes, having done well when against other quick wingers — including Jamal Campbell-Ryce who is also now with Bristol City - earlier in the season. Shane O’Connor will also hope for a home debut but could be rested after playing three games in the seven days to Tuesday, including one in the reserves. In midfield, David Norris showed signs of tiring at Scunthorpe and having been subbed may be one of the players carrying knocks. His possible absence could see Owen Garvan return either in the centre alongside Grant Leadbitter or on the left with Jack Colback moving inside. Carlos Edwards was also replaced at Glanford Park, but may drop out even if he isn’t one of the mystery three, with Jon Walters perhaps in line for a move back into the midfield. David Healy will probably start having opened his Town account at Scunthorpe with Daryl Murphy — who looked tired at Scunthorpe — most likely to be joining him up front, unless he’s one of the doubtful trio. Keane has been impressed with Connor Wickham and Pablo Couñago in training with the 16-year-old putting in one of his best displays for the first team when coming off the bench in midweek. Bristol City boss Gary Johnson, a former Suffolk resident during his time as a Cambridge United player and Newmarket Town manager, says his side need to replicate the performance which saw them defeat West Brom 2-1 at Ashton Gate on Sunday: "The work-rate out there was unbelievable and it had to be against a Premiership-type style. “You have to be as athletic as they are and I thought we finished very well. I don't think the lads realise at times how good some people can be if you let them have time. "If you give the ball away like we did in the first 20 minutes then those players are clever enough to be in space to be totally free. "If you are giving it away there is no need for them to come back with you. We did give it away on several occasions and that gave them the impetus. "That is what we had to sort out second half and even after their goal we started winning the ball back and picking up our man a lot quicker. "We showed that commitment to get in the box and it was nice to get that [second] goal because it gave us something to fight for and hang on to." Johnson is shocked to see the Blues languishing in the division’s lower ranks: "I'm still surprised, I think they've got a decent team. "They are certainly a big club, they've got big support. They've only lost two at home and the same as us they have drawn more than they would like. "It's a big game again for both clubs because we're not looking too far in the future, not looking behind or ahead we're looking at the next game. Ipswich are a decent Championship side and I'm sure they're going to be dangerous on their day." Winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce, who featured for Barnsley against the Blues earlier in the season, is back after a calf injury and may be in the squad for the trip to Portman Road. Defender Jamie McAllister (calf) and winger Evander Sno (back) are both definitely out, while City have had one or two unnamed players off training due to illness this week. Striker Patrick Agyemang is a slight doubt with a minor knock. The Robins are currently 12th in the Championship, four points and seven places ahead of the Blues with a goal difference one better. Their away record is won two, drawn six and lost seven. The Bristol City squad includes former Blues Danny Haynes and Gavin Williams, but no current Town players have played for the Robins. Historically, Town have the edge on City, winning 24 (22 in the league), losing 17 (17) and drawing 10 (10). The sides drew 0-0 at Ashton Gate in December, while last season Town won 3-1 at Portman Road through Jon Walters, Pablo Couñago and a Liam Fontaine own goal after City had gone ahead early on via former Blues loanee Stern John. Saturday’s referee is Nigel Miller from County Durham, who has shown 63 yellow and nine red cards in 27 games so far this season. Miller’s last Town match was the 3-3 draw at Doncaster in September, during which he kept his cards in his pocket throughout. Squad from: B Murphy, Lee-Barrett, D Wright, Rosenior, O’Connor, Peters, Delaney, McAuley, Balkestein, Leadbitter, Norris, Garvan, Colback, Quinn, Martin, Edwards, Walters, Healy, D Murphy, Couñago, Wickham.
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