Gerken and Smith Back But Trio Miss Out Against QPR Friday, 10th Jan 2014 15:09 Centre-half Tommy Smith and goalkeeper Dean Gerken will be back in the Town side which faces QPR at Portman Road on Saturday, but strikers Daryl Murphy and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake both miss out through injury and midfielder Anthony Wordsworth is ill. Veteran frontman Alan Lee will be on the bench. Gerken and Smith missed last Saturday’s FA Cup draw with Preston due to groin and back injuries respectively, but McCarthy says they’re now OK: “They’re fine, they’re fit and raring to go, the two of them.” Daryl Murphy was also absent due to an ongoing thigh problem, while new signing Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was substituted just before the half hour mark. McCarthy says neither will be fit to face Rangers: “Sylvan will be out for three or four weeks. "We’ll have to be patient with him, his injury is his hamstring, it’s nothing to do with his ankle but we’ll need to rehab him and make sure he’s rehabbed properly so he won’t go out and do that again when he starts playing. “Murph isn’t available, he’s got a thigh strain. He’ll train on Monday. I think Tuesday might come too quickly and I’m not sure whether I’d want to risk him in that game because he has been outstanding, he has been almost ever-present and I think he’s had a great season so far. “I’d prefer to lose him for Saturday and Tuesday and have him back firing again, if that’s the case and that’s what we’ll do.” Alan Lee, who joined the Blues for his first spell at the club eight years ago today, will be amongst the Town subs and could make his second Town debut at some stage having rejoined the club, primarily to coach in the academy, in the summer. “Alan Lee is on the bench tomorrow,” McCarthy confirmed. “Al just impresses me as a bloke, I like him. He’s great around the place and he’s done well in training, he does what he needs to do and if I need him tomorrow, he’ll be fine.” He says Anthony Wordsworth, who could still go out on loan during the January window, is unwell: “He’s got tonsillitis at the minute, he was really ill after the game, was probably run down, he hadn’t played many games. He’s ill. “I’ve 16 fit outfield players, that’s the squad I’ve got. I think we’ve used fewer than everybody else this season. I’ve got 18 [including keepers] and I’ll add Byron Lawrence and Kyle Hammond to beef it up in case anybody rings in and says they’re poorly.” With QPR playing a 4-5-1 formation, McCarthy may well revert back to his 4-3-3 system after moving to 4-4-2 against Preston. Gerken will return in goal behind the usual backline of Luke Chambers at right-back, Aaron Cresswell on the left and Smith and Christophe Berra in the centre. In midfield, the Town boss is likely to recall Cole Skuse to play behind Luke Hyam and Ryan Tunnicliffe, while David McGoldrick, Frank Nouble and Paul Taylor look set to be the strike force. McCarthy says QPR have a strong squad and even though manager Harry Redknapp has lost a few players, particularly strikers to injury, he expects them to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt. “QPR are full of real quality players, who have been in the Premier League for a long time," he said. “He’s lost players, to be fair, he’s lost strikers. I don’t know whether he wants to play two but he’s having to play one up front, he’s had a lot of injuries. “If they get it rolling they’ll be very difficult to stop. If somebody beats them into the top two, they’ll have had a great season. If somebody beats Leicester and QPR they’ll have had a remarkable season.” QPR are set to recall former Norwich keeper Rob Green and veteran centre-half Richard Dunne who were rested for last week’s 4-0 FA Cup defeat to Everton. Winger Junior Hoilett looks set to miss out with a hamstring problem, while midfielder Alejandro Faurlin is sidelined with a cruciate ligament injury. Striker Tom Hitchcock, who scored the winning goal in the meeting between the teams at Loftus Road, has moved to Rotherham on loan. Town have won 28 of the previous encounters between the sides (26 in the league), Rangers 24 (22) and 18 (17) have ended in draws. In August at Loftus Road, debutant sub Hitchcock scored in the final minute to consign the Blues to a 1-0 defeat. Town had gone close to going in front before the break when Green saved from Murphy, but it was all Rangers in the second half with Clint Hill and Charlie Austin both hitting the bar prior to Hitchcock’s last-gasp goal. The teams last met at Portman Road in the September of QPR’s Championship-winning 2010/11 campaign. Neil Warnock’s side brought Town’s unbeaten start to the season to an abrupt end as they ran out comfortable 3-0 winners. Jamie Mackie struck twice in the first half and Heidar Helguson added a third from the spot after the break. QPR keeper Brian Murphy - who is likely to be on the bench on Saturday - was with Town between January 2010 and August 2011, making 20 appearances, before joining the R’s after turning down a new contract at Portman Road. Right-back Danny Simpson made seven starts and one sub appearance for the Blues during a loan spell from Manchester United between March and May 2008, while striker Charlie Austin was close to joining Town from Swindon in January 2011 before signing for Burnley, who he left for Loftus Road last summer. Blues U21 coach Mark Kennedy was on loan with the R's for just over a month in 1998, scoring twice in eight games. Town’s support in the Sir Bobby Robson Stand will be augmented by 117 Fortuna Dusseldorf supporters making their annual trip to Suffolk. After the game, Bryan Hamilton, Fabian Wilnis and John Wark will be at a Legends in Legends Special, along with former Fortuna Dusseldorf star Egon Köhnen. For a QPR view on Saturday’s fixture, visit our friends at the excellent Loft For Words. Fans based abroad will get a chance to watch the Blues in action with the game being shown live on TV in various nations throughout the world. Saturday’s referee is Select Group official Phil Dowd from Staffordshire, who has shown 86 yellow and one red card in 19 games so far this season. Dowd’s most recent Town match was back in December 2007 when the Blues drew 0-0 with Burnley, who were reduced to 10 men when John Spicer was red-carded just before half-time and also had three players booked. Squad from: Gerken, Loach, Chambers, Hammond, Cresswell, Mings, Smith, Berra, Skuse, Hyam, Tunnicliffe, Tabb, Anderson, Edwards, Hunt, Lawrence, McGoldrick, Taylor, Nouble, Lee.
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