 Tuesday, 24th Aug 2010 09:10 New Town signing Jason Scotland will make his Town debut as a sub this evening in the Blues’ Carling Cup second round tie at Crewe. The former Wigan man, who signed yesterday for a fee of £750,000, is yet to play a full 90 minutes this season. Keane fielded a young side at Exeter in the first round and with the squad still injury-hit is likely to again rest one or two senior players. The Blues boss says fringe players such as Conor Hourihane, Ronan Murray, Shane O’Connor and Tom Eastman have been doing their best to try to impress him in training over the last few days: “There are a number of young players who are all doing well. They trained on Sunday morning, quality training, it was very, very good. They all probably know that there’s a League Cup game coming up and they want to be involved. “They would have enjoyed the game at Exeter, the buzz around that and playing for the first team. We had very good supporters down there that night as well.” Keane admits he faces tricky choices: “Some of the senior players will want to continue to play. It’s a difficult one, but I’ll have my team in my head lunchtime on Monday.” The Town manager may be loath to play too young a side to ensure the Blues continue their winning start to the season: “It’s like in any sport. You get that momentum going and you might not necessarily be playing well but you’ve got that momentum and you think you’re not going to be beaten. “Having said that, our form even last year, despite the horrendous run, I thought wasn’t bad. We weren’t taking our chances, whereas now we’re getting a few breaks, such as the penalty the other day. Last year we went to Palace and Steady was sent off and then we gave a bad goal when Damien cleared it and it got a deflection. “Maybe we used up our disappointments and bad luck. Momentum is vital in sport, that’s why we want to win at Crewe. We don’t want to come back down that road beaten on Tuesday night.” Crewe also have some momentum having beaten Barnet 7-0 on Saturday, a result which Keane isn’t taking lightly: “Confidence is massive in any team or for any player and if you can score seven goals at home, I don’t care who you are, that’s some going. “We’re under no illusions, every cup game I’ve been involved in away from home we’ve had to roll our sleeves up and grind out a result. If we have to grind a win out at Crewe, then that’s what we have to learn to do. It’ll be tough for us, but I can guarantee it will be tough for Crewe.” Keane is looking forward to pitting his wits against Dario Gradi, who returned to managing the Railwaymen last year having previously been boss between 1983 and 2007: “Good luck to him, I look forward to meeting with him tomorrow night. He’s been a great servant to Crewe. “You talk about managers winning trophies, but other managers deserve great credit for not necessarily winning trophies but for sticking with the one club and not just helping with the first team but the academy, the scouting. He’s a rare breed. “When you love the game you do keep coming back. No doubt football’s in his blood and probably without the game he’d be lost, like lots of people in football. It’s like a drug. You can talk about my experience, imagine his over the years! Scary!” The Town boss is in no doubt that he’s after a victory, even if it is ‘only’ the Carling Cup: “It’s another tough game for us. It’s our fourth away game in five. Tough for the players, tough for the supporters, a lot of travelling involved. It’s a game we want to go out and try and win. “We had them watched at the weekend and they scored seven, but we want to win it. People talk about cups and whether it’s a distraction, but if you win a game of football, it gives everyone a lift. “There’s a good spirit amongst our players, the club and the supporters at the moment and we want to keep that going because we didn’t have that last year.” Keane is likely to recall Brian Murphy in goal with Jack Ainsley perhaps getting another run-out at right-back, while Darren O’Dea is OK to play having suffered a concussion at Crystal Palace. The on-loan Celtic man will vie with Shane O’Connor for the left-back’s role. Tom Eastman and Troy Brown could return at centre-half with Keane wanting to rest Tommy Smith and with Gareth McAuley having had a back injury in recent weeks. In midfield, Town are likely to continue with their central three but Luke Hyam may be rested, perhaps allowing Conor Hourihane a debut. David Norris is likely to continue as captain, while Keane says he will assess Grant Leadbitter’s fitness in training on Monday prior to the squad leaving for Cheshire on Tuesday morning. Colin Healy could in any case be given a game as he continues to work on his fitness after the hamstring injury which disrupted his pre-season. Andros Townsend is banned for three games so will miss out, while Jon Stead has joined Bristol City. Tamás Priskin will come into the centre of the three with Ronan Murray perhaps getting his first senior start on one flank and Reggie Lambe on the other. Jason Scotland is likely to be introduced from the bench at some stage, while the likes of Carlos Edwards, Jaime Peters and other senior players will probably be amongst the subs. Town are still without Connor Wickham (ankle) and Damien Delaney (thigh), who are three or four weeks from fitness and Mark Kennedy (hamstring), who will be back a week sooner. Luciano Civelli (knee) is still some way from inclusion, while Alan Quinn is some weeks away from a return having been given an injection on his injured groin after seeing a specialist last week. Academy midfielder Josh Carson, who was on the bench at Exeter, is on international duty with Northern Ireland’s U18s and is unavailable. Crewe boss Gradi says he is looking for a repeat of the first round victory over Derby: “A win would be good for team morale and of course for the supporters. There probably won’t be much between Ipswich and Derby. “I’ve not met Roy before but we’ll welcome him like we welcome all managers. It’s not about him though, it’s about their team. “Whatever side they play it will be good. So we need to go out there and make sure we try and win the game.” The Alex will be without Congolese striker Calvin Zola, who has a knee problem, while defender Carl Martin (shin) and keeper Steve Phillips (shoulder) also miss out due to injury, while frontman Nick Powell is on England U17 squad. No current Crewe player has played for Town, while the Blues’ Tommy Smith was with Crewe’s youth set-up before his family moved from Macclesfield to New Zealand when he was aged eight. The teams met most recently in 2005/06 in the Championship with the Blues doing the double over the Railwaymen as they were relegated, both games ending 2-1. The sides last met in round three of the League Cup in October 2001 at Gresty Road with the Blues winning 3-2. Martijn Reuser scored twice and Alun Armstrong once for Town. During Town's 1999/00 promotion season Crewe knocked the Blues out of the competition in the second round in a tie played over two legs. The Gresty Road game ended 2-1 to the Alex with Mark Rivers and Colin Little scoring for the home side and Mark Venus for the Blues. The Portman Road leg ended 1-1 with James Scowcroft scoring for Town and Mark Rivers grabbing an 86th minute clincher for the Cheshire side. Overall, Town have won nine matches between the teams, Crewe three, with three ending in draws. The three Carling Cup games mentioned above are the only cup ties the teams have previously played. The draw is Town's fourth away Carling Cup tie in a row having been given three successive games at home prior to that. All six of Town’s cup games in both competitions have been away since Roy Keane came to the club. Tuesday’s referee is Paul Tierney from Lancashire, who last season showed 57 yellow and five red cards in 22 games. Tierney has never previously taken control of a Town match. Probable squad: Murphy, Lee-Barrett, Ainsley, Peters, O’Dea, O’Connor, Brown, Eastman, McAuley, Smith, Hyam, Norris, Leadbitter, Healy, Hourihane, Clark, Priskin, Edwards, Murray, Lambe, Scotland.
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