Tommy Miller is Joe Royle's main worry ahead of the New Year's Day clash with Millwall at Portman Road. Miller picked up a knock against Walsall to the same knee which has also hampered him due to a tendinitis problem recently.

The Town boss says the Blues will assess his fotnes nearer the time before making a decision: “We'll wait and see with Tommy Miller. He took a heavy blow on his knee, it's amazing how injuries seem to find injuries — he's got a bit of tendinitis in one knee and of course he gets kicked in that knee. We're hopeful he will be available Wednesday.

“That apart people are getting fit, Mark Venus needs a game as quickly as possible now, John McGreal's still two or three weeks off but getting better, Finidi George and Martijn Reuser need a game as well, so we're getting stronger all the time.”

Royle says that his scouts were impressed with Millwall's 3-1 win over Rotherham at the weekend: “The reports said they were excellent. They played well, they hit quickly on the break, they played with widemen.

“They've got a cagey old striker in Steve Claridge who has been round twice and knows the course well, and it's nice to see Neil Harris returning as well after his terrible illness last year.

“So they're a good side, the kind of side that's caused us problems. I've no doubts about us being up for playing at Leicester, Portsmouth and Sheffield United in the top three, we've gone out there with no fears. What we have to do now is get our home form right, and particularly against sides people say we ‘should', in inverted commas, be beating.

“But they are a very decent side, they've had a mixed bag of results this year. I don't think they had a particularly good start, but Mark McGhee's rallied them round and we've seen in this division that anyone can beat anyone.”

Royle says that his side have completed stage one of a two stage operation he outlined when he started at Portman Road: “When I came here the first thing I said was that it was a two phase operation. The first to get away from the bottom and we've put a lot of daylight between ourselves and the bottom three now, and so we should.

“The second one was chasing the top six and a play-off place. Hopefully that's what we're going to do in the second half of the season. I'd like to see us in the top half of the division, that's the next one and that will hopefully, ultimately lead to a play-off place.”

The Town manager accepts that there has been an edginess amongst his side during home games of late with the away displays more impressive: “There is an edginess, but there shouldn't be. It should be a great place for the lads to play but unfortunately the opposition think that as well - a lovely pitch and a marvellous stadium.

“We're still a scalp, we're still a side that the managers are saying ‘don't be fooled by this lot they can play.' We've seen in the last two games Walsall change their formation, they've played 4-4-2 in every game this year, and of course Leicester did a man-marking job on Jim Magilton. They are starting to pay us a little respect.”

Royle is setting no targets at this stage of the season but says he will do so with around ten games of the season left to go.

With New Year's Day just around the corner the Town manager has one resolution he hopes his side will keep to in the second half of the season: “A few clean sheets, to stop giving daft goals away at home.”

Likely squad: Abidallah, Ambrose, D Bent, M Bent, Clapham, Couñago, Gaardsøe, Holland, Hreidarsson, Magilton, Makin, Marshall, T Miller, Naylor, Pullen, Wilnis and Wright.

Photo: Action Images

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