N'Daw Set for Town Debut as Blues Travel to Boro Friday, 14th Sep 2012 12:19 Boss Paul Jewell looks set to hand Guirane N’Daw his Town debut when the Blues take on Middlesbrough at the Riverside on Saturday (KO 3pm). The Senegalese international joined Town on a season-long loan shortly before the transfer window closed at the end of last month. The 28-year-old watched the Huddersfield game from the bench as he wasn’t considered fit enough to start after his move from St Etienne, but after training and playing for the U21s during the international break, the former Birmingham loanee is likely to make his Town bow on Teesside. Jewell says he has reviewed the 2-2 draw with the Terriers and felt it was a match that fans will have enjoyed: “Against Huddersfield we could have won the game, we could have lost it. It was a great save from Scott Loach from the penalty. Had the penalty gone in, 3-2 would have been a kick in the teeth for us. “I’ve seen the game again, I thought we dominated large periods of it, but when the opposition put us under a bit of pressure, they scored a goal. “It was a good match and like in the Blackburn and Watford games, and for large periods until the second goal the Blackpool game, we played good football. “I think the supporters have seen we’re not the finished article, they know we’re a work in progress, but they went home having been entertained by a football match that had defensive errors, good attacking play, a penalty save and two honest teams both trying to win the game. “At the end of the day, we want to win football matches," he added. "But people coming through the turnstiles are wanting to be entertained and I don’t think they could go home after the Huddersfield game saying that both sets of players didn't give everything they had.” As well as integrating the likes of N’Daw and Paul Taylor into the squad, the last fortnight has been spent working on addressing the side’s current weaknesses, including holding on to leads: “It’s just getting that belief when we are 2-1 or 1-0 up - you can sense the edginess in the team and even the crowd. “We can’t be frightened of winning games. What happens is that we go into the lead and we go on the back foot a little bit. “We showed good character to come from behind against Blackburn and indeed from 1-0 down against Huddersfield. “But when we get into that winning situation, we’ve got to have that confidence and that ruthlessness to try and see the game out and if we don’t get another goal at least not concede. “The Achilles’ heel has always been that we concede goals when we come under a little bit of pressure.” With skipper Carlos Edwards fit after his groin problem and summer signing Elliott Hewitt close to involvement in the first team after his hip operations, Jewell goes into the Middlesbrough match with an injury-free squad: “We’re looking forward to it. Like every game in this league, it’s a tough challenge but we’re going there full of confidence. We’ve got a clean bill of health and we’re looking forward to the game. “We treat every game exactly the same - whether it’s Middlesbrough, Wolves or Barnsley - with complete respect. “We have them watched on three occasions, we’ll do a video presentation of their strengths and weaknesses, but most important, after we do all that, we’ve got to be able to play and have the confidence in our ability to go and impose our strengths on the opposition.” N’Daw looks set to come into the side in the centre of midfield, probably alongside Massimo Luongo with Andy Drury dropping to the bench. Daryl Murphy will be on the left of midfield and Jewell will have to decide whether he uses Paul Taylor wide on the right or Lee Martin. Against Huddersfield, Martin started in his usual role behind lone striker Michael Chopra before switching positions with Taylor at half-time. The Blues boss may decide to start as he did against the Terriers and again switch the pair later in the game. At the back, Jewell has confirmed that captain Edwards will return at right-back with Jack Ainsley dropping to the bench despite an impressive first home league start against Huddersfield. Aaron Cresswell will be at left-back with the club’s only two out and out centre-halves, Luke Chambers and Tommy Smith, in the middle of the defence, the latter having arrived back from New Zealand on Thursday afternoon. N’Daw and Ainsley are the options if either suffers a knock. Boro boss Tony Mowbray has revealed that one of Town’s recent signings was a player he was keen to add to his squad: “Paul Taylor was on our radar, he was on a lot of clubs’ radars, he’s a talented boy. “Ipswich managed to get the deal done. It won’t have been a cheap deal, but quality costs and he’s one we’ll need to keep an eye on this weekend. “He’s a player we thought long and hard about and maybe if there had been an exit from our club Paul might have been playing in a red shirt.” The former Blue views Taylor as a big threat: “He’s a very, very good player, we’ve liked him for a long time but let’s hope he has a quiet day at the weekend because he’s scored a goal or two against us over the last year or so for Peterborough.” Boro midfielder Kevin Thomson is back in training after a calf strain, while striker Lukas Jutkiewicz is close to a return after a summer knee operation. Those two plus striker Ishmael Miller (ankle), on-loan Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran (thigh) and summer signing from Bristol Rovers Mustapha Carayol (knee) will be assessed prior to Saturday’s game. Skipper Rhys Williams is set for up to four months on the sidelines after surgery to damaged ankle ligaments, midfielder Nicky Bailey isn’t yet ready after tearing a hamstring and young striker Curtis Main picked up a knee injury in training and also won’t be involved against the Blues. Cameroon international Andre Bikey may not be considered fit enough for inclusion from the start after joining the Teessiders this week. Mowbray is a former Town skipper, coach and caretaker-manager. His assistant manager is Mark Venus, who was also part of George Burley’s Blues side. Ex-Town skipper Grant Leadbitter joined the Teessiders on a Bosman transfer in the summer after leaving Portman Road at the end of last season, while defender George Friend was the subject of a Blues offer in the close season but ultimately decided to join Boro. No current member of the Town squad has played for Saturday’s opponents. The Blues have had the better of Middlesbrough over the years, winning 27 games (25 in the league), drawing 14 (14) and losing 16 (15). Boro are in 12th in the table on six points after four games, a point ahead of the Blues in 18th. Last time the sides met, at Portman Road in March, Leadbitter missed a penalty but then slammed in a stunning goal for Town as the game ended 1-1. After a dull first half, the visitors went in front via sub Jutkiewicz, Boro keeper Jason Steele having saved Leadbitter’s penalty, but the midfielder hammered in an equaliser with 16 minutes remaining. The match was the restaging of the February game which was abandoned after 37 minutes due to a frozen pitch. In September, Town recorded their first draw of the 2011/12 season as their visit to the Riverside ended scoreless. Jason Scotland went nearest to breaking the deadlock with a shot against the post in the second half, while Michael Chopra and Ibrahima Sonko both went close in the first period. Saturday’s referee is Phil Gibbs from the West Midlands, who has shown 11 yellow cards and no reds in five games so far this season. His most recent Town match was the 1-0 victory over Barnsley in March in which he booked Lee Martin and Damien Delaney and no Tykes. Squad from: Loach, Lee-Barrett, Edwards, Cresswell, Ainsley, Smith, Chambers, N’Daw, Luongo, Drury, Hyam, Carson, Murphy, Martin, Emmanuel-Thomas, Taylor, Chopra, Scotland, Murray.
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