 Friday, 11th Mar 2011 13:49 Boss Paul Jewell is set to hand Kieron Dyer his second Town debut when the Blues travel to Leeds on Saturday. The former England international, who last appeared for his hometown club when he scored twice in the 1998/99 play-off semi-final defeat to Bolton, is likely to replace skipper David Norris, who is banned for the next two games. The 32-year-old West Ham man has joined on loan until April 9th and, with Jimmy Bullard and Colin Healy both doubts, appears certain to go straight into the side at Elland Road. Dyer’s previous Town bow came at home to Crystal Palace on Boxing Day 1996 when he came on as an 86th minute sub for Mick Stockwell in a 3-1 victory over the Eagles, a game in which Leeds club captain Richard Naylor scored for the Blues. After another sub appearance in a 2-0 defeat at Huddersfield a couple of days later, the then-17-year-old made his first start in an FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest, a game the Blues lost 3-0. Speaking on Thursday, prior to securing Dyer’s return, Jewell said that Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat to Reading was the first time his Town side had failed to show up over an entire game since he took over at Portman Road: “It was one of those days. On any given day you can probably carry one or two players not performing but you can’t carry the whole team. “I don’t think any of the team performed, it was a bad day as the office. We don’t just dismiss it as that, but it was. “It was a very disappointing performance, the players know that, but over the period of time that I’ve been here it’s the first time we’ve not really turned up over 90 minutes.” The Blues boss says injury absentee Jimmy Bullard was missed but says the rest of the side needed to be much better in his absence: “I think you’ve got to be careful not to make it the Jimmy Bullard saga all the time, although having said that it does take the pressure off Connor Wickham! “We did miss him, but we’ve got to be better. The whole team didn’t perform on the night, we know that, the players know that and we try and learn from it. “I think we have to give Reading credit because they were good. They changed their system to try and play against us, which in a way is a compliment to us, but we just didn’t deal with it very well. “We missed a couple of key players and our squad is a bit stretched and thin on the ground, but the players know they’ve got to do better. They didn’t do themselves justice, so hopefully that’s gone away now and we can bounce back.” Jewell says fatigue may be an issue for some of his team with the Blues having had two matches a week for most of the season: “I think we’ve played more games than any other team in the Championship, 43 with the League Cup and the FA Cup. “We’ve had a lot of games, but I don’t want to use tiredness as an excuse because the Championship is a slog. You very rarely get a breather.” Jewell says the Whites have kept their momentum going after last season’s promotion from League One: “Leeds had a terrible time slipping down from the top echelons of the Premier League to League One but they’ve come back on a great roll.
“They’ve got that winning mentality, that mentality that comes with winning games — if the opposition score one, we’re going to score two. “Their goalscoring record is outstanding, but their goals against is probably one of the poorest in the league I would have thought. “They have a goal threat and if you’ve got a goal threat you’ve got a chance of winning matches. It’ll be a great atmosphere at Elland Road and I’m looking forward to it.” The Town boss says he had a decent record at Elland Road with Wigan: “We won there when we got promoted to the Premiership, I think we beat them 3-0 and we won on penalties [in the FA Cup] as well. Not too bad. “I live in the area, so if we lose I’ll probably jump straight back on the bus and come back to Ipswich!” Despite the midweek defeat, Jewell is unlikely to make wholesale changes with his small senior squad stretched by injuries. Márton Fülöp is likely to continue in goal with Brian Murphy still a little way off a return after his broken ankle. Mark Kennedy is unlikely to be back from his hamstring injury, so Darren O’Dea will continue at left-back with Carlos Edwards on the right and Damien Delaney and Gareth McAuley in the centre. In midfield, Dyer will come in for skipper Norris, who is banned for the next two games after picking up his 10th booking of the season on Tuesday. If Jimmy Bullard fails to recover from his hamstring problem and Colin Healy is still out with his torn stomach muscle, Andy Drury will continue with stand-in skipper Grant Leadbitter taking the third central midfield role. Lee Martin will keep his place on the right and Connor Wickham on the left with Jason Scotland probably continuing in the lone striking role. Leeds boss Simon Grayson, who Town manager Paul Jewell signed on loan when he was in charge at Sheffield Wednesday, is keeping his feet on the ground despite victories over Doncaster and Preston in their last two games which have pushed his side into fifth in the table, 15 points and 11 places above the Blues. Grayson said: "I said after [losing 3-0 at] Swansea that we wouldn't get too down because we knew there were so many games to go and there would be results people wouldn't predict. "All we have to do is try and react to situations and results, which is what we do. If others slip up we'll try and grasp that opportunity, if not hopefully we can secure ourselves in the play-off positions. "We've got spirit and determination. We wanted to put what we did at Swansea right. If it was a kick up the backside down there then so be it, but we've had a reaction, which the players here always do, and we've had two good wins. "Just like after the Swansea game, we're not getting carried away again either. There's 10 games to play, and there'll be plenty of twists and turns yet." Right-back Paul Connolly is close to a return after injury but Grayson says loanee Eric Lichaj may keep his place: "Conns isn't too far away. He's near to being fully fit but maybe needs another game first. "Eric has done well and his loan finishes after Saturday, so we'll assess that over the next 24 hours before making any firm decisions." Central defender Patrick Kisnorbo, who regularly played alongside Gareth McAuley at Leicester, remains on the sidelines long-term with an achilles injury. Midfielder Barry Bannan, who has signed on loan from Aston Villa, could make his first start for the Whites. Historically, Leeds have the superior record in the fixture, winning 26 (25 in the league) clashes between the teams, Town victorious on 22 (17) occasions and with 18 (15) games ending in draws. Goals from Jason Scotland and Tommy Smith saw the Blues to a 2-1 victory over 10-man Leeds at Portman Road earlier in the season. Scotland put Town ahead prior to the break but Robert Snodgrass equalised for the Whites in the second half before Alex Bruce saw red against his old club for fouls on former Blues loanee Andros Townsend, and then Smith headed home the winner. The last time the sides met at Elland Road was at the end of the 2006/07 season when a 1-1 draw all but relegated the home side. Alan Lee equalised Richard Cresswell's first half goal with four minutes remaining, leading to a pitch invasion by Leeds fans who threw coins and other missiles at the Town support during a 30-minute interruption in play. The Leeds squad is captained by former Blue Richard Naylor while Alex Bruce joined the Whites from Town over the summer. No current member of Paul Jewell’s squad has previously played for Leeds. Saturday’s referee is Darren Deadman from Cheshunt, who has shown 75 yellow and five red cards in 20 games so far this season. Deadman’s last Town match was the 0-0 draw at home to Plymouth in January 2009 in which he booked Gareth McAuley and two Pilgrims. Squad from: Fülöp, Lee-Barrett, Edwards, O’Dea, Delaney, McAuley, Smith, Dyer, Leadbitter, Bullard, Drury, Peters, Hyam, Martin, Wickham, Civelli, O’Connor, Scotland, Priskin. Photos: ITFC
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