McCarthy: Crawley Will See Us As a Scalp Tuesday, 12th Aug 2014 06:00 Boss Mick McCarthy is expecting a tough game when the Blues travel to League One Crawley for tonight’s first round Capital One Cup tie. Town will be without 10 senior players with Matt Clarke, Bartosz Bialkowski and Alex Henshall set to make their debuts and Jack Marriott his first Blues start. “Crawley will see us as a scalp,” McCarthy said. “I looked at their game from the weekend [a 1-0 victory at Barnsley] and they’re certainly well organised, there’s no doubt that they work hard and I wouldn’t expect anything else from a team of John Gregory’s. “And, I guess like lots of us, their approach is to do all that side of it first, then you play a bit of football and have a couple of players who can do a bit and open teams up. “It will be a hard game, but like us, I don’t think they’ve got the biggest squad and we’ll see what happens.” Town took on the Red Devils in a friendly last summer, which McCarthy recalls being a tough match: “We played them last year in the pre-season friendly and I thought they were very capable then and it’s a nice ground. It wasn’t easy last year and we were lucky to come away with a 2-1 win.” The Blues boss dismissed the suggestion that the tie is an unwanted distraction so early in the new season: “It doesn’t matter, it’s there and we’ve had the fixture for ages. “It’s just when they get so many little knocks and bumps and bruises with a squad of 20 established professionals, then we’re looking at Teddy Bishop, Matt Clarke etc. “It’s there, we’ve got to play it and it should be a great opportunity for somebody. I’ve just said to the lads that I picked the team on Saturday and some will have thought that they should have been playing. “Well, they weren’t and we won, so nobody can really complain and I can’t do anything towards their attitude towards it or to this game, ‘I’m only playing in it because…’ “Well, actually you’re playing in it to give me a headache and to make sure if I’m looking to pick somebody else next time you’re first on the list. I expect, whatever team I do pick, to produce a performance.” Similarly, he disputes claims that the competition has become devalued in recent years: “Not when it gets to the final, it’s always the same. This squad rotation, I think you should be able to do it, certainly the bigger teams. “But we’ve only had one game, so it’s not like the rest of them are battle-hardened over 10 games. “I have to say, for some of them Tuesday has come too quick. There are two or three of them who have gone down with cramp. “When you consider that we covered seven kilometres more than Fulham did as a team on Saturday, whether that was chasing the ball or whatever it might be, that’s a shift we’ve put in. That was a big part of why we win the game.” McCarthy recalls facing Crawley boss John Gregory on the field but not previously as a manager: “I played against him and a few run-ins playing against him. He was a good player, John. Not so much managing against his teams, though. “He was at Villa, Wycombe first, so no I don’t think I managed against him with any of those.” Overall, McCarthy wants to see his side continue their positive start to the campaign at the Broadfield Stadium: “Last year I was sat here having played really well at Reading and we had no points. “We were going to play Stevenage and we were beaten and suddenly that looked like a horrible start to the season. “So, we’ve had a good start to this season and we want to build on that. We want to win and I’ve said to the lads who are playing that it’s their opportunity because there’ll be another game come round and they can keep playing. And I never go anywhere and want to get beaten.” Given the 10 players not fit or risked - several of whom would probably play if it was a league game - McCarthy’s team would appear to all but pick itself. Bialkowski is set to make his debut in goal with another debutant Clarke at left-back and Elliott Hewitt probably in his most favoured right-back role. Skipper Luke Chambers looks set to switch back to the middle alongside Christophe Berra with Tommy Smith absent. Recent signing Kevin Bru looks likely to get his first start in central midfield, having come on as a sub at the weekend, alongside Anthony Wordsworth with Jay Tabb probably on the right and Alex Henshall making his debut on the left. Up front, Jack Marriott will make his first Town start with Frank Nouble likely to be alongside him. Balint Bajner will probably be amongst the subs, as may the transfer-listed Paul Taylor with McCarthy’s options limited. Crawley will be without striker Matt Harrold, who has undergone knee surgery. Skipper Josh Simpson came off against Barnsley with an ankle injury and will also be absent. Striker Gavin Tomlin could be back from a hamstring injury. The sides have never previously faced one another in a competitive game, although the Blues played pre-season friendlies at the Broadfield Stadium in July 2007, when they won 5-1, and last summer when the game ended 2-1 to Town with Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick (pen) on the scoresheet. Injured Crawley captain Simpson was a schoolboy with the Town academy, while midfielder Conor Henderson was on trial with the Blues in the summer of 2013 following his release by Arsenal. Ex-striker Billy Clarke was released at the end of 2013/14 and is now with Bradford and former Town midfielder Andy Drury returned to Luton during the close season. Last year the Blues lost 2-0 at Stevenage at the first round stage and Town have gone out of the competition to a side from a division below them in eight of the last 11 seasons. Crawley also went out at the first round stage a year ago, the Red Devils succumbing 4-3 at Cheltenham. Tonight’s referee is Andy Haines from Tyne and Wear, who showed 91 yellow cards and 11 red in 91 games last season. Haines’s last Town game was the 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday last season in which he booked Tommy Smith and one home player. Town squad from: Bialkowski, Gerken, Hewitt, Clarke, Wyatt, Chambers, Berra, Wordsworth, Bru, Bishop, Tabb, Henshall, Lawrence, Nouble, Marriott, Bajner, McQueen, Taylor.
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