Town Out for Second Away Win at Cardiff Tuesday, 21st Oct 2014 06:00 Top-six Town visit Cardiff City tonight looking for their second away win of the season. Manager Mick McCarthy says that although he’s targeting all three points, he wouldn’t be too disappointed to pick up a fourth successive draw. The Blues - whose last away defeat was at Reading on August 16th - have generally taken the game to the opposition on their travels this season and have been rewarded with a victory at Wigan and draws at Derby, Birmingham, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, where only a last-gasp equaliser prevented Town from taking all three points. “You do that to try and put them on the back foot,” McCarthy said. “But a draw away from home, especially at places like Cardiff, Wigan, Derby or Sheffield Wednesday, they’re all good points. I wouldn’t baulk at a point now. But we’re going to Cardiff trying to win the game.” The Town boss expects to have skipper Luke Chambers, midfielder Teddy Bishop and top scorer Daryl Murphy available again with the trio having returned to training yesterday after missing the 1-1 draw with Blackburn. Luke Hyam will again be absent due to a hamstring problem but is due to return to training on Thursday and could be available for Huddersfield’s visit to Portman Road on Saturday. McCarthy is likely to shuffle his pack to some extent with regulars returning and one or two players perhaps not currently fit enough to play two games in four days. Dean Gerken will continue in goal with Jonny Parr at right-back and Tyrone Mings on the left. Captain Chambers seems likely to return alongside Christophe Berra at the centre of the defence with Tommy Smith dropping to the bench. In midfield, McCarthy may consider bringing in the fresher legs of Teddy Bishop for Kevin Bru, although the Mauritius international was one of the Blues’ top performers at the weekend. Cole Skuse and Wales international Jonny Williams look set to continue in the other two midfield roles. If fit, Daryl Murphy will return up front in place of Stephen Hunt - who was playing his first game of the season at the weekend following a spell out with a calf injury - alongside Conor Sammon and David McGoldrick. Russell Slade was formally appointed Cardiff’s new manager a fortnight ago after a period as a consultant following his resignation as Leyton Orient boss last month and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Bluebirds exit. On Saturday, the 54-year-old got off to a confidence-boosting winning start as the Welshmen defeated Nottingham Forest 2-1 at home. “He would have been delighted with the win,” McCarthy said. “Especially against Nottingham Forest, who were unbeaten.” Despite their current position of 12th, Cardiff are only four points behind the Blues in sixth and McCarthy believes they have a squad capable of still making a challenge for promotion. “Without a doubt,” he insisted. “When the teams came down and you looked at the squads that they’d got, I know Fulham got shot of a lot of players, Norwich have still got the strongest squad and I think Cardiff have got a really good squad of players. “I don’t know whether they’ve got injuries, we all have to suffer those, but they’ve got a bigger squad to cope with those than we have. “The three teams that came down have got good squads, still. And Fulham aren’t out of it yet because they’re starting to pick up results and if you get a bit of momentum with a good squad then you’ll be flying. Cardiff are a real threat for the promotion places, still.” He added: “I know they got relegated but they’ve still got a really good squad of players. You think of the players that they’ve got and the players that they’ve signed, they’ve still got the remains of a good squad and have taken other players in. “They’ve got a new manager and you always get a lift from that, which is always nice. They’ve got a good stadium there, they’ve got a good crowd when they get behind them and they beat Nottingham Forest on Saturday, who were unbeaten, and that just gives them a real lift. “And they’ve got a recent history of doing well in this league. There’s an expectancy there that they should be in the top six, top two. I just think that if they get the right bloke there in charge, he can get them going.” The Town boss has a lot of time for his opposite number, who he believes was due a shot at a bigger job: “I’m so delighted for Russell Slade that he’s got a chance at a club like Cardiff with the squad like he’s got because he’s put the hard yards in at Yeovil and at Orient. “I know him, us football managers kind of know each other from being on the scene. I’ve always found him to be a really nice fella, he’s a gentleman. People who have played for him speak highly of him and whenever I meet him and speak to him he’s a really good guy.” Slade is expecting a difficult game, having faced the Blues in pre-season while with his previous club Orient, the sides drawing 1-1 at Brisbane Road a week prior to the start of the campaign proper. “Tuesday is going to be a very difficult game again, because Ipswich went to Forest and nearly won. Forest equalised very late on against them,” he told Cardiff’s official site. “I know Mick’s team, because I played against them in pre-season. They’re tough to beat, they’re very organised and we’ve got a lot of work to do before Tuesday if we’re going to pull off a result against Ipswich, there’s no doubt about that.” On-loan West Ham man Ravel Morrison is a big doubt, due to a knee ligament problem, while the England U21 man has also been suffering from a virus. Left-back Fabio picked up an injury ahead of the win against Forest, while another full-back, Declan John, is another doubt with a hamstring problem. Striker Federico Macheda came off with cramp at the weekend but is expected to be fine, however, former Canary Tom Adeyemi is set to miss out with a hamstring injury. Ben Turner and Matthew Connolly are not yet ready to return to first-team action. Town have the upper hand historically, winning 20 (18 in the league), drawing 12 (12) and losing 11 (10). Curiously, the Welsh club have only ever beaten the Blues by a single goal, while Town have won six of the last nine games between the teams and haven't been beaten on Cardiff territory since 2007, a run of five matches. The teams last met at the Cardiff City Stadium in the January of the Bluebirds’ 2012/13 Championship-winning season, the game ending in a 0-0 draw. The Blues deserved the point against the division’s leaders with midfielder Guirane N’Daw coming closest the breaking the deadlock with a 25-yard first-half strike which hit the post. At Portman Road in the previous October, Cardiff came from behind to beat the Blues 2-1 to reclaim top spot. Debutant DJ Campbell put Town in front just before half-time, although having clearly used his hand, but two second-half goals from Heidar Helguson won the points for the Bluebirds. No member of either squad has played for the opposition, but Blues coach and former left-back Mark Kennedy joined Town from Cardiff in the summer of 2010 for £75,000 and Icelandic Bluebirds midfielder Aron Gunnarsson had a trial with the Town academy when a schoolboy. Tonight’s referee is David Coote from Nottinghamshire, who has shown seven yellow cards and no reds in his two games so far this season. Coote’s last Town game was the 3-1 home defeat to Wigan in March in which he booked two players from each side. Squad from: Gerken, Bialkowski, Parr, Mings, Chambers, Berra, Smith, Clarke, Skuse, Bishop, Bru, Tabb, Ambrose, Collison, Williams, Anderson, Hunt, Henshall, Stewart, McGoldrick, Murphy, Sammon, Bajner.
Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 298 bloggersIpswich Town Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
