 Saturday, 8th Jan 2011 00:15 Caretaker-manager Ian McParland has been given the go-ahead to play on-loan Celtic defender Darren O'Dea in Sunday's FA Cup third round tie against holders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. McParland, who says he will move on once a new boss takes over at Town, has received more good news with Gareth McAuley OK to make the trip despite suffering a hamstring injury in last week's defeat to Nottingham Forest. Speaking on Friday, McParland, known universally in football as Charlie, was hopeful that the duo would be involved: “We’ll find out on Saturday about Gareth. He took part in a little bit of training today [Friday]. We’ll see how he is and fingers crossed hopefully he’ll be OK. “Darren O’Dea is 90% there on his clearance, although I’m a bit worried about the 10%! Jake Livermore has a groin injury. We got permission for him to play but he’s injured and will miss out, so we’re down to our bare bones.” In addition to Livermore, Shane O’Connor is out with his shoulder injury and Brian Murphy due to his broken ankle, Rory Fallon is cup-tied and Jack Colback has returned to Sunderland. Midfielder Grant Leadbitter is suspended for three games for his red card against Forest, while Alan Quinn is still not back in action after his summer groin injury. McParland says he and first team coach Tony Loughlan will pick the side after Saturday training: “We’ll get together and have a chat about the team and what way we’re going to go when we definitely know about Darren O’Dea and Gareth McAuley. The 49-year-old former Notts County boss says that despite Chelsea’s recent poor run - they’ve won one in eight in all competitions - they are still fearsome opponents: “They’re still in not bad health with the likes of Drogba, Lampard and Malouda! I went to see them the other night at Wolves and they could easily have scored four goals, even if they’re not supposed to be in the best of health. “Wolves did a really good job on them and probably deserved it in the end, but Chelsea still had their chances. It’s a very tough game.” McParland is unlikely to make too many changes from Town’s recent sides under Roy Keane with his options limited by fitness and availability. Márton Fülöp will be in goal, Troy Brown will probably get the nod at right-back with McAuley in the right central defensive role and Damien Delaney or Tommy Smith on the left. Mark Kennedy will probably be at left-back, although O'Dea may be preferred. McParland could look to play a five-man midfield with Luke Hyam likely to be fit enough to return in the centre after his hamstring injury with skipper David Norris and, in Grant Leadbitter’s absence, Colin Healy in the other central positions. If the Blues go with a four-man midfield Healy will probably be paired with the Town captain. Carlos Edwards is likely to be on the right of midfield, while the left is a problem area with Colback and Andros Townsend gone and O’Connor unfit. Luciano Civelli is still to play a first team game 22 months after he suffered his multiple knee ligament injury, so Jaime Peters could play on his less favoured flank with the Argentinian on what’s otherwise likely to be a young bench. Ronan Murray, Reggie Lambe, Conor Hourihane and Tom Eastman will probably be in the 18. Connor Wickham could start ahead of the more senior Jason Scotland and Tamás Priskin in the lone striker’s role if Town play 4-5-1. The England U21 international is likely to be paired with Scotland if Town play two strikers. Chelsea have doubts about Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien, who have picked up minor knocks and face fitness tests, while John Mikel Obi (knee), Yury Zhirkov (calf) and Yossi Benayoun (achilles) are all definitely out. Carlo Ancelotti is disappointed that Roy Keane’s sacking means he can’t exact revenge on the former Manchester United midfielder: “I was excited about the chance to meet Roy Keane for a long time because I was the manager of Juventus when he gave me disappointment because he scored in the semi-final of the Champions League. "Now I don't have the chance to meet him and I am sorry for this because when a manager loses his job it is not a good moment, but this is the life of the manager. "The manager has to be able to cope with this moment. It is not good but hopefully he can move forward quickly." The Italian says he should take the blame for his side’s current poor form: "I feel more responsibility than the players in this moment, but this is normal. In football when everything is OK people say the players are fantastic and when everything is wrong the manager is not so good. "This bad moment has gone on too long but we don't have to lose confidence. I trust in the players and maintain my composure and maintain confidence in my players that we can move on and be competitive for the rest of the season." Chelsea have had much the better of Town over the years, winning 22 games, losing nine and drawing 11. Three FA Cup ties at Stamford Bridge are included in the West Londoners’ 22 victories, a 2-0 win in 1972/73 and a 3-0 defeat of the Blues in the 1967/68 season in addition to the fourth round game two years ago. Then, superb second half freekicks from Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard saw Chelsea to a 3-1 victory over Jim Magilton’s Town team. The Blues had matched the home side for spells with Alex Bruce equalising Ballack's opener before the break. Town last won at Stamford Bridge in May 1979 when two goals from Alan Brazil and one from Clive Woods gave Sir Bobby Robson’s side a 3-2 victory. No current Blues have played for Chelsea and no member of Carlo Ancelotti’s squad has ever been with Town. The Blues have lost their last 10 FA Cup ties against Premier League teams: Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Southampton, Sunderland (twice), Portsmouth (twice), Watford and Bolton. Their last victory over top flight opposition came in 1996 when Paul Mason's last minute goal put out then-champions Blackburn in extra-time of a third round replay at Ewood Park. The draw for the fourth round will take place at approximately 3.35pm on Sunday following the conclusion of the Manchester United-Liverpool tie and will be live on ITV1 and FATV. Town and Chelsea will be ball number 23. Radio Suffolk’s match commentary is available online on the BBC’s website, as is the case for all FA Cup matches, but for UK residents only. Sunday’s referee is Town favourite Andy D’Urso, a late replacement for Phil Dowd who was originally down to take control of the fixture. D’Urso has shown 48 yellow cards and four red cards in 18 games so far this season. The Billericay-based official’s most recent Blues match was the 3-1 home defeat to Swansea last month in which he failed to award Town a penalty when Carlos Edwards was blatantly brought down inside the area. D’Urso also has history in previous Chelsea-Town matches, sending off John McGreal after a somewhat innocuous foul and apparently less than offensive comment in the Blues’ 4-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge in January 2001. Squad from: Fülöp, Lee-Barrett, Brown, Kennedy, O’Dea, McAuley, Delaney, Smith, Eastman, Norris, Hyam, Healy, Edwards, Peters, Lambe, Civelli, Hourihane, Wickham, Scotland, Priskin, Murray.
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