Town manager Joe Royle is to give Matt Richards his first home start for the senior side as the Blues face Morecambe in the FA Cup on Saturday. Royle, the last English manager to win the FA Cup with Everton in 1995, says he will field his strongest side but has a number of players unavailable.

Neither Tommy Miller or Thomas Gaardsøe are fit, Gaardsøe with a groin strain while Miller has calf and knee problems.

Also unavailable are Jim Magilton (compassionate leave, back in training on Monday), John McGreal (knee), Chris Makin (suspended) and Justin Miller (cup-tied and unwell). Mark Venus is not considered after his knee injury.

Finidi George, Martijn Reuser and Alun Armstrong return to the squad. Royle says that all three are desperate for a chance to show what they can do.

Due to the mini-injury crisis Richard Naylor could move into central defence, although the manager says he is still considering his options with a 4-4-2 formation a possibility.

One decision Royle has made is to bring Matt Richards into the starting line-up for the first time since his debut at Avenir Beggen in August, while Darren Ambrose will also start: “Matt Richards will start and also Darren Ambrose.

“He's looked bright, he's come on three times recently and lifted us. At Brighton, obviously at Leicester and last week he lifted us again. I thought he looked stronger.”

Darren Bent will remain on the bench, Royle feeling that, like Ambrose a month or so ago, he is in need of a rest. Marcus Bent, who was a doubt with a groin problem, is another confirmed starter.

Should Town be awarded another penalty Royle expects there again to be competition between his players to take it: “There'll still be a fight. I think this time Marcus Bent and Darren Ambrose will be fighting for the ball.

“Darren is a terrific deadball kicker. One of the nets came away at the corner the other week and he put three out of three in the hole where the net had come away. I said to him to try and do that again and he did. Marcus tells me he's good as well.

“Saturday's was the first penalty since I've been here and it was a great kick from Tommy Miller, well taken. Tommy's a great striker of the ball.”

Morecambe have few injury problems, central defender Keith Hill the only worry with an Achilles injury which has kept him out of their last two games.

Manager Jim Harvey could give a debut to ex-Welsh U21 international Alan Morgan. The midfielder or full back joined the Conference side last Friday after leaving Doncaster.

The Shrimps, who have a strong home record although they are less impressive away, will wear their traditional red shirts but, unusually for them, with black shorts. They have travelled to Suffolk today and are training at Town this evening.

Morecambe have seven survivors from the squad which faced the Blues at Christie Park two years ago. The fantastically named Ryan-Zico Black, Gary Thompson, Dave McKearney and their captain Stewart Drummond were all in the starting line-up while Jamie Murphy and Adriano Rigoglioso were substitutes.

Morecambe players to look out for include leading scorer Robbie Talbot and midfielder Michael Stringfellow. Both players have been out of action for a year but are now back and have put in some excellent performances.

Joe Royle is impressed with Lancastrian club's progress: “They've done fantastic to get this far. They can play, I know Jim [Harvey] a little bit and I know the way he played and they play the same way.

“We've had them watched, they are impressive, they'll try and play, but equally we must be honest and say that we expect to win the game but we've got to be sure we don't become an unwelcome statistic.

“I've seen that at both ends, I've been at Oldham when we've been chasing big teams and believe me it's not hard to motivate that away dressing room. So, we've got to be up and right for it. We've got ourselves going in the right direction and we don't want any hiccups tomorrow.

“We're taking this very seriously, it's a cup I'd like to see us do very well in.”

Squad: Abidallah, Ambrose, Armstrong, D Bent, M Bent, Clapham, Couñago, George, Holland, Hreidarsson, Marshall, Naylor, Pullen, Reuser, Richards, Wilnis and Wright.

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls