Town Face Birmingham Looking to Return to Top Two Friday, 18th Sep 2015 06:00 Town could return to the top two if they beat Birmingham in tonight’s live Sky game at Portman Road, albeit probably only briefly, but manager Mick McCarthy isn’t taking too much notice of league positions at this early stage of the season (Sky Sports 5 from 7pm, KO 7.45pm). “Last Friday night we could have gone top, that didn’t do us any favours!” he said. “Let’s just see if we can win and [then look at] wherever it takes us. “We’d love to be second because that would mean we’ve won, but it’s where we end up in May that is the most important thing.” Town, who are currently fifth, will go into second spot if they pick up the three points this evening but would slip back down the table if the weekend fixtures fail to go in their favour. Middlesbrough, currently second, five points behind leaders Brighton and just one in front of the Blues, are at Nottingham Forest on Saturday when Hull, fourth, are at home to QPR, while third-placed Burnley are at Derby on Sunday. McCarthy says his Birmingham opposite number Gary Rowett has done very well since taking over at St Andrew's last October. “He was one of my candidates for Manager of the Year in our league,” the Town boss said. “He was never going to get it because the guy who wins the league deserves it. “Eddie Howe deservedly got it, he had the best team, so was accordingly the best manager for me. “But I always look at somebody who is an unsung one, who came in and did an unbelievable job, which he did for a team which looked like getting relegated and they reached safety very early on. “And they’ve started the season with that momentum. I met him last season and had a good chat with him and I can understand why his teams are like they are. I thought he was a good guy.” Birmingham suffered their first defeat of the season when they lost 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, but McCarthy isn’t reading too much into that result. “A bit like us [at Reading], a rare blip. It happens,” he said. “They’ve been very solid and of course they’ve got Clayton Donaldson, who scored 18 goals last season and was much sought after in the summer, there were a lot of teams looking to take him. “Demarai Gray and David Cotterill have got a real threat up front, they’re a really solid unit, they don’t give too many chances away.” McCarthy was tight-lipped on whether he was one of those looking at Donaldson in the summer, as was reported at the time. The Blues boss is unlikely to stray too far away from the team which beat Leeds with Dean Gerken set to continue in goal following his first clean sheet of the campaign. Skipper Luke Chambers will be at right-back, Jonas Knudsen on the left with Christophe Berra and Tommy Smith at the centre of the defence. In the middle of midfield, Cole Skuse is expected to be fine to keep his place, despite suffering a knee injury in the second half at Leeds, with Jonathan Douglas again set to start alongside him. McCarthy is hopeful that winger Ryan Fraser will be able to take his place on the left of midfield, despite suffering a knock during the game at Elland Road. The Town manager says taking a few kicks comes with the territory for a player of his ilk. “He was far more optimistic about his chances of being today [Thursday],” he said. “The fact that he’s got such a low centre of gravity and he changes direction so quickly, he leaves people for dead at times and I think they go to tackle him and suddenly he’s gone the other way and it’s the trailing leg which gives him a boot. “He puts up with it, he’s certainly not soft, that’s for sure, he’s a tough little nut. But he’s always going to get kicked.” Ainsley Maitland-Niles is likely to start on the right, although Freddie Sears is fit again after missing out at Leeds with a tight hamstring and is another option for that role. Up front, McCarthy says Daryl Murphy is champing at the bit to open his account for the campaign, but the Town boss isn’t unduly concerned by the Irish international's lack of goals so far, injury having limited him to four starts. “Of course he is, [as you'd expect] for somebody who scored 27 last season. Sometimes it happens for you, it clicks and that was the season, he had a great season last season with us. “It doesn’t happen all the time that you pick up where you left off and start scoring. Because of injuries you’ve got to get yourself to a level, a level of fitness and playing, and that hard-nosed, week-in, week-out playing. “And I think it’s been hard for them, there’s only really Freddie who has had that this season, that’s played all the games and been fully bang at it and then he took a little knock, but he’s fit again.” McCarthy has his usual decision to make regarding his four strikers. Murphy seems likely to be partnered either David McGoldrick or Sears. Kevin Bru and Teddy Bishop are both fit again after their hamstring injuries and one or both could be amongst the subs. The duo played in Monday’s U21s game at Birmingham, along with recently signed winger Tommy Oar, who could be in the 18 for the first time. Birmingham play their deadly rivals Aston Villa in a Capital One Cup third round tie at Villa Park on Tuesday and manager Gary Rowett has tried to keep his players’ focus on tonight’s game. "We haven't mentioned the Villa game but of course they'll be talking about it,” he told Sky Sports. “There's a lot of anticipation about. We have to put it to the back of our minds. "I don't think they'll be many players thinking 'If I play well here I'll play against Villa'. We want to win at Ipswich, we want to look a good team again. "The Villa game will take care of itself, it's a self-motivating game, I almost don't have to do a team talk." Rowett says that as a young manager his Town counterpart McCarthy is someone he looks up to: "Mick has done an amazing job. "He is the type of manager who, when people meet him, you respect him straight away because he's such a great guy. “He's full of character and always helps younger managers. He's one I look up to and respect what he's achieved in the Championship." Birmingham have no injury problems but Andy Shinnie could replace on-loan Arsenal youngster Jon Toral in midfield. Historically, Town have had the better of Birmingham, winning 34 times (31 in the league), drawing 14 (14) and losing 27 (21). The Blues have won their last three home games against the Midlanders and are unbeaten against them home and away in seven matches stretching back to Paul Jewell's time as manager. The teams last met at Portman Road in February when Freddie Sears scored twice and Tyrone Mings and Kevin Bru once each as the Blues won 4-2. Mings headed in his first senior goal in the 24th minute, Sears made it 2-0 four minutes after the break, before David Davis pulled one back for Birmingham on 57. Sears netted his second on 64, Davis grabbed another for the visitors on 79 before Bru sealed it in injury time with his first goal for Town. In August last year at St Andrew’s, Christophe Berra netted twice, the second deep into injury time, as Town grabbed a 2-2 draw having twice been behind. David Edgar put the home side in front on the half hour, Berra equalised for the Blues five minutes after the break, Clayton Donaldson put Birmingham back in front before the Scottish international’s late, late leveller. No player in either squad has represented the opposition, although Birmingham defender Michael Morrison hails from Haverhill. Friday's match is a Kid for a Quid game with under-16s able to watch the match for £1 in all areas of the ground. The referee is Keith Stroud from Hampshire, who has shown 30 yellow cards and one red in six games so far this season. Stroud’s last Town game was the 3-2 defeat at Brighton in January in which he booked Kevin Bru and Noel Hunt and one Seagull. Prior to that he was in charge of the 1-0 home derby defeat to Norwich at Portman Road in August last year. Coincidentally, he was the referee for Town’s 1-0 home victory over the Midlanders in March 2014 in which he booked Cole Skuse and two visiting players. Squad from: Gerken, Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Parr, Knudsen, Berra, Smith, Malarczyk, Skuse, Douglas, Coke, Bru, Bishop, Tabb, Maitland-Niles, Fraser, Touré, Oar, Murphy, McGoldrick, Sears, Pitman.
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