Town boss Mick McCarthy has confirmed that midfielders Cole Skuse and Jonathan Douglas are fit to travel to Bolton today ahead of Tuesday’s game at the Macron Stadium, but striker Daryl Murphy remains a doubt.

Skuse has missed the last four games with a toe ligament problem, while Douglas was ruled out of Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest with a badly cut foot and Murphy was sidelined with a calf strain.

“I’m hoping that he’s come through his training sessions,” McCarthy said regarding Skuse. “He trained yesterday and was fine. I’m very hopeful he’ll be OK.

“We’ll see how Murph is today. I’ve a lingering hope that we might be able to get him on the bench but if he’s not fully right we won’t involve him. Dougie will be fine, he’ll train today.”

Midfielder Kevin Bru was subbed at half-time on Saturday as he was being sick, but McCarthy says he’s made a swift recovery.

“Lazarus is fine!” the Town boss laughed. “I rang him yesterday and was expecting a very groggy, sick-sounding Kevin Bru and he was as bright as anything, he was on his way in and he was fine.

“It was obviously something he just had to get out of his system. He was great. He’ll be fine. I’m delighted as well because I thought Kevin played very well in the first half.”

Former Bolton loanee Giles Coke is expected to return to training after his knee injury later this week.

Photo: Action Images

ArnieM added 09:57 - Mar 7 PLEASE MM, do not change the team from Saturday . It worked very well.
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hector_clifford added 09:57 - Mar 7 Good news, but Foley deserves to keep his place.
33

prebsa added 10:00 - Mar 7 Good to see some of them coming back, however I though Foley and Hyam did perfectly well in the midfield on Saturday so would be very harsh on them to be replaced.
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MattinLondon added 10:01 - Mar 7 I know that I am in the minority but I just feel that Skuse is a luxuary player who we can do without. I think he can do a lot better and demand the ball just like how Foley did against Forest.
7

TR11BLU added 10:11 - Mar 7 No change from Saturday Mick, it was good to see us pass the ball on the ground and some creativity from midfield. Probably wasting energy writing this tho.
17

iaintaylorx added 10:13 - Mar 7 I do like Murph, but when he is back fit, I hope Mick doesn't put him back up top. I feel when he is playing, that's when we feel abliged to lump to ball up top as we have a target man! Foley was outstanding on Saturday and always wanted to play out from the back. If it not broken, don't fix it. COYB!!
8

BLUETEL added 10:17 - Mar 7 MM the defender will opt for Skuse in front of the back 4 ....That will upset the midfield ... With no Murphy we can / should be able to play the ball on the deck again .... Who knows MMs thoughts ???
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Terry_Nutkins added 10:21 - Mar 7 If Skuse is fully fit he starts. You play your best team and Skuse is certainly one of our top players. Given he's just coming back I don't mind Foley starting but it annoys me after one game when people start questioning Skuse. Ridiculous.
8

Currie10 added 10:25 - Mar 7 Skuse a luxury player!? Heard it all now. The fact that comment received + comments on here to me shows how little a lot of people know about footy, assume many don't play it. Skuse may be many things - frustrating, many others, but luxury!? Dear god. Good player Skuse but he needs to be benched for this and fight to get back in. Foley deserves to keep his spot. If Mick puts Skuse/ Douglas back in ( unless Foley and Hyam are absolutely dead ) then if we don't win he will rightly receive pelters.

7

therein61 added 10:35 - Mar 7 If he puts both Skuse and Douglas in after Saturdays encouraging ball playing(on the deck) display it will beggar belief!!!!! but it's Mick and favourites we are talking about!!!
6

MattinLondon added 10:42 - Mar 7 I've only played Sunday League which isn't a high standard but it is enough for me to state that Skuse is good at breaking up danger but that comes at the expense of consistency inviting danger by simply seating deep week-in-week-out. He needs to do more like running with the ball or orchestrating the middle more between defence and attack. At times its like we have two big blocks of defence and attack and nothing in the middle. It isn't until you play football that you realise just how big a football pitch is and if the spine of the team isn't mobile the whole team suffers by allowing the opposition a free run at the defence.

6

BlueKush added 10:57 - Mar 7 I remember when we won 2 on the bounce with Wordsworth and Hyam in midfield a couple of seasons ago while trying to get in the playoffs, beating Brighton away and Derby at home. The winning team was broken up because Skuse was back from injury - with Skuse back in and Wordsworth out we drew at home to Forest and lost at Blackburn. We didn't make the playoffs in the end. Never change a winning team.

12

Slambo added 11:17 - Mar 7 I'm glad everyone's on the same wavelength regarding Foley. Made all the difference on Saturday. Collecting the ball, little passes that broke up the lines - great stuff. And how much better did Maitland-Niles play as a result?!Foley first name on the team sheet for me...
12

BrettenhamBlue added 11:18 - Mar 7 There's no doubt that Foley deserves to start, regardless of returning players. Pringle and Foley have turned out to be revelations since their moves to our club, and have helped us into an unlikely battle for 6th spot. We do need a defensive midfielder to deal with Pratley, but I feel Foley is up for the job. Main problem on the day could be their left winger. Can't remember his name but he's pretty handy from what I have seen on match reviews and highly rated by Bolton fans. Chambers could have a tough game, especially as he has an abundance of pace. Our defense has held out well recently though and Bialkowski has been a sensation. Want to see Dozzell on the bench for this one, Coke et al should have no part in a Championship side.

4

GiveusaWave added 11:33 - Mar 7 Foley makes a massive difference by staying calm on the ball and measuring passes precisely to his team mates. One of the best passers of the ball we have had for some time at ITFC. He could prove to be a crucial signing.
6

jas0999 added 12:03 - Mar 7 Two defence minded midfielders to compete with our era, other defence minded players. Good to have options though. That said defender Foley played as well as any of the others on Saturday and deserves to keep his place. Douglas is by far the worst and shouldn't be considered. Skuse will start for Hyam I suspect.
1

essexboy added 12:19 - Mar 7 I doubt he will change a winning team,but having said that,anything can happen.Skuse will be fine to have on the bench,other than that don't change it MM.Still not sure about Murphy up front should he be fit for the Cardiff game,I think the jury is out with many of us.3 points tomorrow,long drive for me so I hope we do well.
2

BackTheBlues added 12:27 - Mar 7 Let's all calm down a little bit shall we? We beat a poor Forest side who should have been 2-0 up at halftime. Play tika taka if you want... but a better team would of beaten us. Skuse and Murphy go straight back in to the team when fit! The difference - play Sears alongside Murphy! That was the difference on saturday, because we couldn't lump it to him. Murph can play on the ground! Foley and Hyam were excellent but Skuse has to start! Personally - drop Bru, put Foley wide right.

-2

pistolknight added 12:49 - Mar 7 Simple decision for me!! Hyam out, Skuse in!! Sorry but your Hyam is never gonna be good enough to take us where we want to go!!
-8

JimmyP45 added 12:51 - Mar 7 Pitman was fairly anonymous last match, I would swap him for Murphy. However, I think Foley is our best holding midfielder with a fine display on Saturday. Excellent at sweeping up and practically the only midfielder other than Bru that wants to advance up the pitch. The moment we bring Skuse and Douglas back into the team we will resort back to hoofball and will ultimately lose the midfield again. Please let's not take a step backwards after how we played against Forest.

4

essexboy added 13:18 - Mar 7 It's very difficult at the moment with what we have to find a balanced midfield.There are quiet a few permutations but none have really worked for a long period of matches.I feel until we stop having loan players and get a settled a quad this will never happen,but I am happy with Foley,And Pringle.It just remains to be seen whether they will both be available to purchase in the summer,or the big question is will our owner have the money available.Nevertheless we must press on and hope we can get into the top six.

2

hogster1970 added 13:30 - Mar 7 well personally i would prefer the same starting eleven , hyam and foley played well together, scuse is a replacemnet for hyam yes, but hyam is a bit more mobile when closing the ball down then scuse is. , but all depends if hyam is a bit stiff in the legs after saturday, but we will see. and phil firefox doesnt seem to like this page for some reason and is very slow esp when typing, and freezes occasionaly. normally coinciding with the pop up adverts on here, i do the usual maintance and only have problems on this page

2

Beattiesballbag added 14:34 - Mar 7 First of all, Sorry Essexboy hit the wrong arrow on your first post. Second it's an Injustice to the forest players to say they were a poor team they would have been two nil up if it had not been to two exceptional saves, not poor finishing! both efforts would have beaten most keepers. Last of all, If Murphy comes back for Pitman it wouldn't mean hoofball again as long as you don't bring Skuse back! It's because he keeps passing the ball back to the defence that they keep hoofing it up the field, so if you want to continue to see a passing game you will need to keep Hyam along side Foley, if you want to get back to Hoofball bring back Skuse, it makes no difference if Murphy plays or not. Hyam or Foley can both protect the back four just as well as Skuse, but it's the back pass to the defence that puts them under presure that causes the hoofball, also If you bring back Skuse for Hyam, Foley wont see so much of the ball. I have called Skuse a luxury before because he is more of a defender than midfield player, I think maybe impedement would be a better word. Harsh (because he works hard & is a nice bloke) but true.

2

blueblood66 added 15:34 - Mar 7 Foley has to play, assured with the ball.
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hogster1970 added 15:36 - Mar 7 beatiesballbag, you are spot on there mate, he just seems very comfatable on the ball and neither are our center backs hence the hoof when they recieve it back, but with hyam and foley there, mainly foley i will add then he is more dynamic on the ball
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