Boss Mick McCarthy says he could look to freshen his side up at Yeovil on Tuesday but has ruled out making wholesale changes. Anthony Wordsworth is again set to miss out with a back injury, while Frank Nouble is a doubt with a minor hamstring problem.

“There’s a thin dividing line between freshening it up and having too many players in the team [short of match sharpness], like in the League Cup when you’ve got five or six in who haven’t been playing,” McCarthy said. “I’m not about to start doing that. But there’s the potential for freshening it up.”

The Town boss says Wordsworth is likely to miss out, while Nouble aggravated the injury which forced him off just after half-time a week ago: “Woody’s been struggling with his back and still is, he’s got a very sore back. Frank has got a bit of a hamstring, I think from the Birmingham game.

“He played the 45 minutes [on Saturday] and it didn’t look like it was bothering him then, but maybe sitting on a bus for five hours coming back’s caused a problem with it, so he’s got a tight hamstring this morning.”

He says centre-half Christophe Berra is fine despite requiring treatment for a foot injury following a solid challenge with George Friend at the weekend: “Surprisingly he’s OK, it was a real crunching tackle. Nothing in it, by the way, it was just a physically tough tackle and he’s fine.”

McCarthy says striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake is now up to be included from the beginning of a match - “Yes, he’s ready to start” — although as usual was keeping his cards close to his chest regarding his team selection.

He confirmed that 17-year-old midfielder Teddy Bishop would again travel and that skipper Carlos Edwards would be making the trip having been left behind at the weekend: “He’s coming, so he’s got a chance [of being involved].

“That wasn’t so much me leaving him behind as him asking to stay behind to train. It’s not a nice trip if you’re not playing but at least he trained, otherwise you don’t train and you end up doing a little Friday, nothing Saturday, a little bit on Sunday. Fair play to him, he wants to keep himself sharp.”

The squad will undergo cryotherapy after training this morning before leaving for Somerset at lunchtime.

Meanwhile, McCarthy laughed off claims in one of this morning’s national newspapers that he had been told his budget must be cut by £3 million.

Photo: Action Images

blueherts added 11:00 - Mar 10 3 million - that was what Cresswell was worth ? some months back - He could do with a decent LM to link up with - Oh hang on a minute - we have Williams in the squad now Shame we dont see fit to play the creative types ? As has been said on here - Nouble , Tabb cannot be in the team Richardson should be in at RB Put Chambers and Smith at CB Berra has been playing well . may as well stick him in as a Def Midfielder Then you can pick anyone from Taylor , SEB , Williams , Skuse , Murphy , Hunt , Anderson Face it , we are not going up with this squad and doubt we will go down ! so lets aim for Top 10 ... That would be progress

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pazelle added 11:05 - Mar 10 Gerken Chambers, Berra, Smith, Cresswell Anderson, Hyam, Skuse, Hunt/Williams Taylor, Murphy/Ebanks
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blueherts added 11:31 - Mar 10 It takes me back to CE at RB why not put a specialist in that position Chambers is a CB not a RB
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John_Portman added 11:37 - Mar 10 Gerken Chambers Berra Smith Cresswell Taylor Hyam (Williams) Skuse Hunt Murphy SEB - Chambers is our best RB even if he struggled on Saturday, sorry Richardson. Berra our best CB by a length. Taylor has flair and puts in a shift, Hyam and Skuse we know what we're going to get, as with Hunty. Murphy been good this season, SEB needs a 90min chance and he's done it before.

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JackITFC96 added 11:48 - Mar 10 Why not try something completely new? Gerken Chambers Berra Smith Edwards. hyam. Skuse. Williams Taylor Seb. Murphy? Surely it's worth a try, still fairly defensive with Edwards if he can go up and down.
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JackITFC96 added 11:51 - Mar 10 Infact Williams rm and Cressy lm
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Michael11 added 12:06 - Mar 10 Haha So McCarthy has to cut his budget of £0 by £3m? Need to give him £3m if anything. We have a lot of dead wood in the squad who let us down most weeks that need replacing before we have any chance of being a decent side. I'd start Taylor again, he needs a good run in the side and he tried more than most at Boro. If Taylor doesn't start then I can see a 4-4-2 with Anderson, Hunt and Evanks-Blake coming in.

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docsavage52 added 12:19 - Mar 10 I tend to think that the club would be happy with a placed 7 to 12 position and go upwards next year. As others have said some of the team sheets have been quite strange, so i dont think they want promotion this year. Anyway keep supporting the shirt and MM will do us proud.
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Sugito added 12:31 - Mar 10 Gerken Richardson Chambers Berra Cresswell Anderson Hyam Skuse Williams SEB Murphy
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BlueVelvet added 12:43 - Mar 10 Wigan, Brighton, Derby and Forest - biggest games of the season, if not, the past 3 seasons
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WickedBlue added 12:43 - Mar 10 @Sigito 2 right sided CB's not a smart idea and besides whats our Tommy done to deserve being dropped?
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Blaine96 added 12:46 - Mar 10 After Saturday we do need to freshen it up and i would honestly play a 4-2-3-1 as Mick has the players for it but because of his tactics he aint a manager to play that, I would start this team at Yeovil LOACH CHAMBERS BERRA SMITH CRESSWELL HYAM SKUSE WILLIAMS TAYLOR MURPHY EBANKS-BLAKE
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essexboy added 12:59 - Mar 10 Do not play chambers at right back,he is a central defender.It's not his fault he is being roasted every week.MM, PLEASE get it right!PUT RICHARDSON there!is that not why you got him?COYB
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michael99 added 13:14 - Mar 10 Wicket blue Berra is a left footed left sided cb playing right side or haven't you noticed?u are obviously another armchair expert who either never goes to games or if you do you need to open your eyes
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marco007 added 13:36 - Mar 10 mmm the good thing is that Nouble gets to sleep on the long journey down and then he is fully refreshed and raring to go at Yeovil...................just as he did at Middlesbrough! Joking aside, when MM states that we must do better, I can only remember a handful of games in which we have actually played well. There is no way we deserve to make or are going to make the Play Offs.

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olimar added 13:37 - Mar 10 @hertsblue Youre advocating playing Christophe Berra as a defensive midfielder, but at the same time saying we should be playing a specialist at RB rather than Chambers? Berra isnt a specialist defensive midfielder- Skuse does that well enough without disrupting that.
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WickedBlue added 14:22 - Mar 10 @michael99 I was going to home and away games before you were even a twinkle in the milk mans eye. I saw all the great games the lifting of the FA Cup, the Playoff final etc etc. I did miss the EUFA cup final second leg but that was the only one. I did not know Berra was left footed because I don't get to many games anymore because of my job. But it doesn't detract from my question what did Tommy do to deserve being dropped? So yes I am an armchair supporter today but I've paid my dues over 40 years of support and I don't need to be sneered at by someone who doesn't even come close to the amount of support I have shown over the years. Furthest I travelled for a single game was to Portman Rd. That's right I flew in from Colorado USA saw Ipswich play Norwich beat them 5-0 then flew back the next day to go back to work. Nuff Said

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Bradley19ITFC added 14:28 - Mar 10 Tabb & Nouble out
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Bergholtblue added 14:47 - Mar 10 My guess it will be the team that started against Middlesbro' with SEB in for Nouble.
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bringbacktheglory added 15:30 - Mar 10 I'm sorry but calls for Berra to put into midfield are laughable... He's a central defender and our best one at that!
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oscarwhiting added 16:04 - Mar 10 i agree with blaine96 and anyone who said dont play chambers at right back. whats the poing in having a player on loan(Richardson) and not playing him. i do,however, realise that it will mean a hard decision on who to drop out of chambo smithy and berra on who to drop. none of them deservd it. same goes for williams, hes a fantastic player, the type that we have all been crying out for, please use him mick!!!!

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Superblue95 added 16:33 - Mar 10 I agree with the suggestions that we should try a 4-2-3-1 formation and believe it could work very well for us. it allows Mick to play his 2 holding midfielders while also incorporating the creative players like taylor and williams into the team at the same time. give it a try Mick!!!
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Tractamatt added 16:42 - Mar 10 Results go wrong in the next 2 games and there really is only one change to make!
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michael99 added 17:09 - Mar 10 Wicked blue,that's is what I mean about having to watch the team live rather than listening to hearsay to make credible comments I actually think tommy smith is vastly overrated and Berra is far the superior of the two so if a reshuffle is needed round pegs in round holes the defence in my opinion would be Richardson/Hewitt chambo Berra and cressie, tommy smith hasn't done anything particularly wrong but is nowhere near as good as Berra and I also think chambo is a better cb than tommy so I have no doubt that they would be the best pairing

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jas0999 added 17:38 - Mar 10 We don't have a bigger enough squad to make wholesale changes anyway! Have to win this game if we want to stay in contention for a play off place. Yeovil are not world beaters and we should have a team capable of beating hem. If we haven't then serious questions need to be asked.
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