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Jewell Looking for Town to Bounce Back After Tough Week
Jewell Looking for Town to Bounce Back After Tough Week
Friday, 26th Aug 2011 13:20

Town boss Paul Jewell will be looking for his side to bounce back from what he admits has been his toughest week with the Blues when Leeds United visit Portman Road on Saturday. The Town manager hopes that the signings of Jimmy Bullard, Ibrahima Sonko and Daryl Murphy will help his team to react after last Saturday’s 7-1 defeat at Peterborough United.

Jewell said: “It’s been the toughest time since I’ve been here. Saturday was an unbelievably tough day, it was a tough weekend.

“Sunday and Monday weren’t great but you’ve got to get over it. You can have a couple of days mourning, if that’s the right word. But you can’t let the hangover affect the game the next Saturday.

“Ever since the game finished we have to look forward to Saturday. It’s so important that we try and cut out the silly errors that we’re getting punished for that I spoke about after the Southampton game and I’m speaking about now after the Peterborough game.”

The Blues boss says a brief nightmare spell led to Town’s spectacular downfall at London Road: “When you analyse the game, it was three and a half minutes of complete madness. We were 1-0 up, then 1-1 and in three and a half minutes we [ended up 4-1 down and] had one sent off.

“Two of their goals were offside, I spoke to the referee’s assessor, who admits that, and that the penalty was two yards outside the box.

“I don’t think many managers have been in the situation where they’re 6-1 down with 54 minutes gone and they’ve got to try and keep it down to single figures. It was a horrible day for myself, the staff, the fans and the players.

“We’re not blaming referees, it’s down to ourselves. We haven’t had much luck but I think we’ve got to start believing in ourselves and we’ve got to be tougher to play against. Hopefully the signings we’ve made will make an improvement.”

Jewell watched Leeds draw 2-2 at Upton Park last week and thought they played well: “I was very impressed with them against West Ham. I thought they were very unlucky not to take all three points.

“They’ve got a bit of pace in the wide areas and like every game in this league, it’ll be tough.”

The Blues boss is without Lee Martin (three-match ban) and Tommy Smith (one) after their red cards at Peterborough, while Lee Bowyer is unlikely to face his old club due to a hamstring problem which Jewell is loath to risk.

Central defender Ívar Ingimarsson is still sidelined with his thigh strain and striker Tamás Priskin has suffered a recurrence of his knee problem.


David Stockdale is set to continue in goal, the on-loan Fulham man having been Town’s man of the match at London Road despite the deluge of goals.

Carlos Edwards looks likely to stay at right-back with Aaron Cresswell on the left. Ibrahima Sonko will come in for his Town debut at centre-half alongside Damien Delaney.

Rumours have been circulating that Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been training in the central defensive role he often occupied as a youngster at Arsenal, however, if true this seems unlikely to be anything more than a contingency with the Blues still short of cover in that area of the squad.

Jewell seems certain to switch back to his five-man midfield in order to end the run of heavy defeats. Despite not playing a game since the Preston match at the end of last season, Jimmy Bullard looks likely to come into the central midfield three with skipper Grant Leadbitter and Keith Andrews also in the middle. If Bullard isn't considered ready, Mark Kennedy will start in the deeper role.

New loanee from Celtic Daryl Murphy could well make his second Town debut in one of the wide roles, perhaps his less-favoured right side, with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas on the left and Michael Chopra up front.

Leeds boss Simon Grayson, who was once signed on loan by Paul Jewell during his time as Bradford manager, says the Blues have one of the strongest groups of players in the Championship, more so after this week’s additions: “If you look at their squad on paper they have got one of the best squads in the division, coupled with them signing Bullard and Murphy and what they've already got.

"Paul is going to be bitterly disappointed about the last few games, but that's the nature of the Championship. We know they could come out fighting because that is what Paul Jewell is all about, that's what he will be telling his players because I would."

Grayson is looking for his squad to begin matches more on the front foot: "We need to start games better to give ourselves a better opportunity to win them.

"We can't keep conceding goals so early on because you give yourself a mountain to climb. But all credit to the players as every time they have done that they have shown resilience and a fantastic attitude to get back into the game."

The Whites, who are in 13th in the league having won one, drawn one and lost two, went through 2-1 at Doncaster Rovers in the Carling Cup in midweek with Honduran winger or second striker Ramon Nunez netting his fourth and fifth goals of the season, although only one of those has come in the league.

Grayson says he’s considering whether Nunez has done enough to win himself a place in his Championship starting line-up: "I'm still undecided on what to do ahead of the weekend.

"Ramon keeps producing good performances but the competition is tough at the minute. It's up to the players who are not in the team to try and get a place and ultimately it's down to the players in the team to stay in the team.

“If someone doesn't catch your eye in training then they have no chance of being picked. If you underachieve, you are out of the team."

Striker Billy Paynter is likely to be back after a thigh strain, while Luciano Becchio is still recovering after a hamstring injury. Another forward, Davide Somma, is currently sidelined after knee surgery.

Veteran midfielder Michael Brown has a calf problem, while defenders Tom Lees and Aidan White are expected to get over minor knocks.

Historically, Leeds have the superior record in the fixture, winning 26 (25 in the league) clashes between the teams, Town have been victorious on 22 (17) occasions and with 19 (16) games ending in draws.

In March, Town recorded only their second 0-0 draw of the 2010/11 season as they left Elland Road with a deserved point.

Both sides could have been in front at the break after an end-to-end first period, Tamás Priskin and Lee Martin missing the Blues’ best opportunities. In the second half Town rarely threatened but their backline held firm.

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, ex-Blue Alex Bruce having seen red for fouls on Town loanee Andros Townsend.

Bruce joined the Whites from Town last summer and former Blues loanee Darren O’Dea moved to Elland Road from Celtic during this close season, while Lee Bowyer was with Leeds 1996 and 2003, making 257 starts and eight sub appearances, scoring 55 goals.

Keeper David Stockdale is from Leeds, supported his hometown club as a boy and came close to joining them in the summer prior to signing for the Blues on loan. Bowyer and Keith Andrews were also players wanted by Simon Grayson this summer. New Town fitness coach Andy Liddell is also from Leeds and is a supporter of the club.

Portman Road will be inaccessible to home fans for a short time after the game with the police calling on supporters of both clubs to behave respectfully and responsibly.

Fans should also note that there will be no trains from Ipswich to Stowmarket after 6pm with buses replacing the services to Diss and Norwich.

Town’s matchday programme is now available online for various platforms in addition to the printed version.

Saturday’s referee is fans’ favourite Andy D’Urso from Billericay, who has shown 20 yellow cards and no reds in six games so far this season.

The Billericay-based official’s most recent Blues match was the 7-0 FA Cup hammering at Chelsea in January, while he also took charge of the 3-1 home defeat to Swansea earlier in 2010/11 in which he failed to award Town a penalty when Carlos Edwards was blatantly brought down inside the area.

Squad from: Stockdale, Lee-Barrett, Edwards, Cresswell, Sonko, Delaney, Ainsley, Kennedy, Leadbitter, Bullard, Andrews, Murphy, Emmanuel-Thomas, Carson, Healy, Drury, Chopra, Scotland, Ellington.


Photo: Action Images



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bluenut added 13:30 - Aug 26
Didn't he say this last week!!!!!! Gulp!
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Zico added 13:31 - Aug 26
COYB!!
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pazelle added 13:33 - Aug 26
One up front?

It's only Leeds!
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maximoalex added 13:34 - Aug 26
Ders more to Ireland dun diss
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IvorFeeling added 13:37 - Aug 26
Whilst it may seem an obvious statement the first 15 mins are crucial. The place should be rocking, mainly because of a certain blonde and for once I am looking forward to looking at a blonde bloke!

Get at Leeds early as they have conceded early several times in the past 4 games and it will give all a lift. Come out of the traps with meaning after last week and the confidence will grow.

COYB
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ventilator added 13:39 - Aug 26
As much as I would love us to beat Leeds, I think they will be just a little too strong for us on Saturday. Great to see so many new players coming in, but they will need time to gel.

As long as we see a vast improvement in team performance, then from a pragmatic point of view, that will do for me for now. Predict that it'll be 1-2 to Leeds.
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RYITFC added 13:40 - Aug 26
Last time he said that we the result were 5-2 and 7-1 defeats. We despretley need a result tommorow to give everyone and lift, and it's 2 weeks until we play again.

Lets just all get behind the players, And yes i mean all of them even if we go a goal down and it was another defensive error, We need our 12th man.

COYB
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Back_The_Boss added 13:40 - Aug 26
2-1 Town.
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maximoalex added 13:42 - Aug 26
Ders more to Ireland dun diss
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perrymason added 14:08 - Aug 26
When was the last time we won a match with that idiot D'urso in charge? Anyone know?
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blueherts added 14:09 - Aug 26
Happy with a draw and a good performance - actually a 0-0 thriller - a clean sheet is a big plus !!!
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taylor15 added 14:13 - Aug 26
this is a tricky fixture, and then we've got a few tough games coming up, including blackpool, middlesborough, west ham, brighton, cardiff.. no doubting that this league is the hardest one to get out of! but onwards and upwards now, and paul jewell is the man to take this club forward!
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Premiertown added 14:39 - Aug 26
Ipswich v D'urso Utd oh dear
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johnhazlebum added 14:45 - Aug 26
Dead Cat Bounce.
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TractorRoyNo1 added 14:51 - Aug 26
let's hope so for your sake PJ, because if we go 2 down against Leeds' the North stand will start up with "you don't know what you're doing"
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bontcho added 15:04 - Aug 26
Blatent error in the report Phil, D'Urso must have sent off at least 56 people so far this year. Or is it just us he hates?
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Drew added 15:08 - Aug 26
Great, we have that donkey D'Urso refereeing.
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Garv added 15:19 - Aug 26
Come on Phil thats lazy. Carlos was not blatantly fouled, he tripped over his own foot let's be honest.
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pazelle added 15:24 - Aug 26
Paul Jewell can't loath to risk Bowyer, but he can loathe to risk him.

I think.
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perrymason added 16:51 - Aug 26
Let's all get behind PJ - an honest up-front bloke, doing his best for our Club.
Have just read about Mr Ferguson's latest outburst - at least our Manager is not seriously deranged!
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BlueITFC added 16:55 - Aug 26
PerryMason - i think the last time D'urso was incharge of a match we won was against Leicester last season when we won 3-0 and it was the match when it was really snowy.
COYB!
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ITFC4daprem added 17:04 - Aug 26
Team (with signings
Stockdale
Ziberlon-----Ivrangerson----Sonoko---Cresswell
Andrews
Bowyer---Bullard (if neither fit Leadbitter and Healy
Jet
Chopra---Murphy
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casanovacrow added 17:33 - Aug 26
ziberlon? who? have I missed something?
Do you mean Zuiverloon who we had on loan? cuz he went to Mallorca not so long ago so he defo ain't coming here :-
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Bluebert added 17:57 - Aug 26
we all want new signings but you cant just make them up lol.
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tractorboy1961 added 18:11 - Aug 26
Durso will be the twelfth man for Leeds for sure.
The man is an inept cretin masquerading as a referee
Tough one to call this one but agree we need to start wel and get at them.
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