Town skipper Jim Magilton will return to the starting line-up for the Blues' two home games this week. Manager Joe Royle left the Northern Irish veteran on the bench at Preston on Friday but has confirmed he will start against Watford and QPR.

Royle says Magilton was restricted to 45 minutes at Deepdale to save his ageing legs: "Bearing in mind the two home games, I wanted Jim fresh, so I gave him a rest. Maintaining our home form is vital to us, and Jim is vital to us, as it showed again."

Striker James Scowcroft will make the 250th appearance of his two spells with the Blues on Tuesday, while some confusion surrounds the number of bookings he has received this season.

According to some sources, his yellow card on Friday was the 29-year-old's fifth of the season, however, both Town and Leicester's official sites report that it was his fourth (although the Town site latterly also reports that it was his fifth). Scowcroft is also not included on the FA's list of players suspended or with suspensions pending.

If the caution was Scowcroft's fifth of the season, then he would miss Saturday's game against QPR. However, Friday's referee Matt Messias has indicated that he will have a second look at his decision to book the frontman in the Preston game.

Video evidence seems to indicate that Scowcroft won the ball in the challenge with Chris Sedgwick and it's likely that Messias will reverse his decision, leaving Scowcroft's total at three or four at the most.

The Town pitch is under cover ahead of the Watford game with Siberian conditions expected over the next 48 hours. Groundsman Alan Ferguson and his staff are working round the clock not just to clear the pitch but the concourses and the approaches to the ground.

Squad: Bent, Bowditch, Currie, Davis, De Vos, Horlock, Karbassiyoon, Magilton, Miller, Naylor, Price, Richards, Scowcroft, Unsworth, Westlake, Wilnis.

Photo: Action Images

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