Manager Mick McCarthy will be without strikers David McGoldrick and Aaron Mclean for Saturday’s home game against Hull City. McGoldrick’s 93-day loan from Nottingham Forest is up and Mclean is unavailable against his parent club, while midfielder Lee Martin and defender Reece Brown again look set to miss out due to illness.

McCarthy says the bug which saw Martin, Brown and Mclean miss the trip to Derby is still affecting the squad, although the trio are on the mend: “There’s still a bit of illness knocking around, they’re all getting over it.

“Lee Martin has trained today but that’s his first real training session, although he had a bit of a loosener yesterday with the physio. So, he’s not fully up to speed with it all. Reece Brown hasn’t trained, he’s been in, it’s really knocked him sideways.

“The irony of it is that Aaron Mclean has recovered from his illness but he can’t play. So, the one that is really fit is no good to me tomorrow.”

McCarthy says he always planned for McGoldrick’s absence in the final five games — although the 25-year-old is still training at the club with the Blues paying his wages until the end of the season — and is confident that the likes of Michael Chopra, Daryl Murphy, Frank Nouble and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas can score the goals to secure Town’s Championship status, which is likely to be only a few more points away.

The Blues boss is unlikely to stray too far from the side which beat Derby so dramatically last week. Keeper Scott Loach will be looking to take his personal record to five successive clean sheets, while the defence as a whole will be looking to make it six, which would be a new club record.

Richard Stearman will be a right-back, Aaron Cresswell on the left with Tommy Smith and Luke Chambers in the middle.

In the middle of midfield, McCarthy could look at whether to bring Guirane N’Daw in for Andy Drury, the Senegalese international having made an impact from the bench at Pride Park. Luke Hyam will continue in the other central role.

Martin seems unlikely to start given his illness, so Jay Tabb will continue on the left with skipper Carlos Edwards on the right.

Up front, McCarthy will have to decide between Daryl Murphy and Frank Nouble, while Chopra seems set to come in for McGoldrick with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas viewed as one of the striking alternatives from the bench.

Anthony Wordsworth could come back into the 18 for the first time since his back injury with his manager believing playing 90 minutes for the U21s earlier in the week will have benefited him: "He's missed a lot of football and the game on Monday was good for him and he's in the squad."

Josh Carson has returned from his loan spell at York having broken his foot and is out for the rest of the season, while Paul Taylor is also out for the remainder of the campaign as he continues his recovery from foot surgery.

The Blues boss says it’s no shock that Hull are currently second in the Championship on 74 points, three ahead of third-placed Watford and six behind leaders Cardiff given their manager: “I haven’t seen that much of them, I’ve seen a bit on TV.

“It doesn’t surprise me because they’ve got a good manager, who has had success wherever he has been.

“He’s been promoted out of the Championship before. He knows what he’s doing, he could have been at Wolves, he thought he was getting the Wolves job and didn’t.

“I was with him in the summer and he took Hull back in the Championship and Steve, like me, believes he’s more than capable of managing in the Premier League and that’s where he should be.

“He took that gamble of a Championship club and it looks like it’s going to pay off for him, although I hope we’re going to put a slight dent in it tomorrow."

Striker Matty Fryatt is likely to be back on the Hull bench after eight months out with an Achilles’ injury, while fellow frontmen Sone Aluko (Achilles’) and Gedo (foot) remain sidelined.

Central defender Jack Hobbs is considered 50/50, while former Blue and manager’s son Alex Bruce is out for the season with an Achilles’ injury. Midfielder David Meyler is back from a two-game suspension.

Aside from on-loan Hull striker Aaron Mclean, no current Blues player has featured for the Tigers.

Fulham keeper David Stockdale is on loan with Hull having been with the Blues on a similar basis last season, making 18 appearances. The Tigers are keen to make the move a permanent one at the end of the season.

Liam Rosenior was on loan with Town from Reading during 2009/10, while Bruce junior was at Portman Road between August 2006 and August 2010, making 123 starts and four sub appearances and scoring three times.

Hull’s other keeper, Swiss international Eldin Jakupović, was briefly on trial at Playford Road in the summer before joining the Tigers, who he had spent time with at the end of last season. Midfielder Stephen Quinn is the younger brother of former Blue Alan.

The Tigers' assistant manager is Keith Bertschin was a striker with the Blues between 1973 and 1977, famously scoring a goal with his first touch in senior football after coming on as a sub in a 2-1 away win at Arsenal in April 1976. He was a member of the 1975 FA Youth Cup-winning team.

Historically, Hull just have the edge on the Blues having won 12 of the games between the teams (11 in the league), while Town have been victorious eight times (eight) and a further 10 (10) matches have been draws.

In October at the KC Stadium, two late goals from substitute Nick Proschwitz saw the Tigers come from behind to beat the Blues 2-1. Town had led at half-time through Jay Emmanuel-Thomas but the home side had been the better team throughout.

Last time at Portman Road, in August 2011, Matty Fryatt’s second half goal was enough to give Hull a 1-0 league victory over the Blues.

Town had the better of a first period in which ex-Tiger Damien Delaney had hit the bar, but the visitors improved after the break with Fryatt making the most of a defensive lapse with 14 minutes remaining.

Saturday’s referee is Oliver Langford from the West Midlands, who has shown 57 yellow cards and four red in 34 games so far this season. Langford’s only previous Town match was the 2-0 defeat at Leeds in December in which he booked only former Blues skipper David Norris.

Squad from: Loach, Lee-Barrett, Stearman, Hewitt, Cresswell, Mings, Chambers, Smith, Kisnorbo, N’Daw, Drury, Hyam, Wordsworth, Tabb, Edwards, Martin, Emmanuel-Thomas, Murphy, Nouble, Chopra.

Photo: Action Images

TractorBeezer added 15:32 - Apr 12 1-0 to the Tractor Boys
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orbell18 added 15:37 - Apr 12 Thank god there is no lee martin again. We play so much better without him!
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TrueBlue93 added 15:41 - Apr 12 Definitely worth trying nouble and chopra
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cornishnick added 15:54 - Apr 12 Lee Martin "had a bit of a loosener yesterday". Good job he's out then, don't want him doing a Paula Radcliffe on the pitch
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irishtim added 16:03 - Apr 12 Nouble & Chopra worth a try up front. Mcclean can play for the u21's tis evening I suppose. Keep him match fit.
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theobald1985 added 16:36 - Apr 12 orbell18 martin has been a key player playing loads of games under mcarthy and we have done well. we could do with him on the left against hull and were not better when he doesnt play. I agree with others saying chops and nouble up front i think they could work well if they get a few games together
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Len_Brennan added 16:38 - Apr 12 Chopra & Murphy to start up front. Nouble to come on second half. Hope to see Wordsworth get a few minutes at least.
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bluemikey100 added 17:09 - Apr 12 think gonna be more than 1 goal in this game 2- 0 to town another clean sheet in front of 20,000 crowd and us safe then i reckon
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bournemouthblue added 17:15 - Apr 12 Step forward Hype Squad!
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Morgan added 17:29 - Apr 12 Chops and Nouble to start is tempting but in a game against a side as good as this I would go for Chops and Murphy as we may need an outlet and some hold up play. Murphy is solid and although he won't set the world on fire there is more to his game than goals and could need his muscle tomorrow. Nouble seems the most likely to be an impact player out of the 3 so I would play him off the bench. I'm confident tomorrow we can get something from the game.

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muccletonjoe added 17:43 - Apr 12 Put Marriott on the bench mick !
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bluefeast added 18:22 - Apr 12 I reckon we will get beat 2.0 but win against palace on Tuesday .Hull are dogged with a touch more in front of goal quality than us. Palace on the other hand have gone soft ,prob because Ollie the manager is more interested in having a laugh rather than tactical input. When all said and done ,we will avoid relegation by a couple of points in my opinion.
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masetheace added 18:35 - Apr 12 Hope he can prove me wrong , but anyone instead of Chopra
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bence added 18:48 - Apr 12 We play well against the good sides seem to raise our game and with a decent crowd in I reckon we'll get a result come on the town!!!
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jas0999 added 19:14 - Apr 12 We haven't really seen enough of McClean I suppose, but saying that, what we have seen hasn't been particularly brilliant. Doubt he will stay. Nouble and Chopra for me tomorrow. A draw would be decent - but hoping for a win! COYB's.
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Pendejo added 21:35 - Apr 12 In Mick I trust. A draw against Hull while they're flying high will do... anything better will be a wow. Hull & Palace lose em and we're back in the creek, only this time we have a paddle
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Bluetone added 21:36 - Apr 12 3-1 to the Town and yes Marriott on the bench.
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Edinburgh_Blue added 23:26 - Apr 12 Nouble WILL score tomorrow. I can feel it in my bones! This lad has a bright future at the club. Watch him do the business next season.
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Fatcatevans added 05:28 - Apr 13 Keep up the good work lads. We are so much better without Martin. Our recent resurgent spell has coincided with his omission for yet another stupid red card. It's not as if we miss his goals. Micks doing a great job!
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coyb99 added 10:46 - Apr 13 Chance for the strikers who dont start every week to show what they are capable of and their ability.
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ITFC_Frosty78 added 11:22 - Apr 13 murphy and chopra for me and maybe if mclean is unavailable for tuesday id like too see marriot perhaps on the bench
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wkj added 11:48 - Apr 13 I say now is the perfect time to take a punt and give Marriott his chance; even if on the bench. I think most of us feel a draw vs hull is a great result today so taking a punt on a hungry youngun in light of being a few down in attack makes perfect sense to me
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theobald1985 added 12:18 - Apr 13 Fatcatevans martin has played the majority of games under mick and mick always selects him if available.to put are last few results down to him not being there is a nonsense. we can win today COYB love to see nouble start and score
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Fatcatevans added 21:16 - Apr 13 Your continued bromance with Martin is to be admired Theobald1985, you haven't let facts about his lack of goals coring or assists get in the way of your admiration.
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theobald1985 added 09:34 - Apr 15 i recognise a good player when i see one dear fat cat. constant negative comments regarding a player who always puts shift in for the club and a player mick clearly rates and always plays when available is really not helpful. You hear this negative nonsense in the stands as well and i just cant see the point as it gets us nowhere. IT is extremely difficult to become even a first year pro at united and martin clearly has quality and just think we should get behind the lad who has never really been played in his best position and who cresswell enjoys playing with and the manager belives in.

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