Town will again be without strike trio Nicky Forster, Adam Proudlock and Sam Parkin when they take on Southampton at St Mary's on Saturday. New signing Alan Lee again looks likely to operate as a lone out-and-out attacker.

Parkin has started running after his broken ankle and is around a month away from a return, while Forster's knee has improved but not quickly enough for his involvement against the Saints. Proudlock is also back in training after his recent knee problem. Deans Bowditch and McDonald are not included in the squad.

Lee will continue as the solitary striker with Darren Currie in the position between the frontman and the midfield he has occupied in recent weeks. Town have looked to bring in a loanee as cover but Ricardo Fuller has decided to remain with the Saints and Robbie Fowler now appears to be back in Stuart Pearce's plans at Manchester City.

The Blues are unlikely to make too many changes from the side which came so close to defeating Sheffield United last week and have named the same 16.

Jimmy Juan and Gavin Williams increasingly appear to be the mainstays of the midfield, while Ian Westlake has tended to be favoured ahead of Matt Richards on the left, with Owen Garvan or Jim Magilton starting alongside Juan in the centre.

At the back, Shane Supple currently gets the gloves ahead of Lewis Price with Fabian Wilnis recently at right-back and Scott Barron starting to make a name for himself on the left of the defence. Richard Naylor and Jason De Vos will take up the central positions with Joe Royle yet to sign a new man to compete with his first-choice centre-backs.

Assistant manager Willie Donachie took the pre-match press conference and felt that the Saints will be moving in a new direction now that former Town boss George Burley is in charge: "The biggest change is that they were going with experienced players under Harry and now they are using a lot more young players.

"But you know what a George Burley side will do. They will try to play football and pass the ball around. But it will take George time to embed that in his team.

"It will suit us to play against a footballing team. We are a bit more settled than they are and we have been working at it for a long time. Hopefully the players know what we expect of them by now."

Burley says he is hoping to emulate his achievements with Ipswich at Southampton: "This job is a big challenge, but it has been the same wherever I have been. When I started at Ipswich ten years ago I inherited a squad that needed to be changed and it's the same here.

"One of the things that appealed to me about this job is that Southampton is similar in so many ways to Ipswich; it's a family club, similar size, good youth policy and a solid fanbase.

"It's a great set-up here and my aim is to bring young players through. I want to build a squad not just capable of winning promotion to the Premiership, but one that will keep the club there. If I can do 'an Ipswich' I will be happy of course."

Former Canary Darren Kenton should be back after an ankle injury, but Chris Baird is out with a dead leg.

Rory Delap has returned to training after an achilles injury and Marian Pahars is available despite a sore knee.

Defender Michael Svensson has a long-standing knee injury and reserve keeper Michael Poke is also out with a broken wrist. Kyle Critchell, who played against the Town U18s in the FA Youth Cup final last season, is unavailable until the summer due to a cruciate ligament injury.

The Saints will probably be without wonderkid Theo Walcott, who could have joined Arsenal in a reported £12 million transfer by the time the Blues travel to Hampshire.

Burley has failed to sign John Halls from Stoke City. The former Arsenal trainee has decided to join Reading's push for the Premiership instead.

Saturday's referee is Steve Tanner from Somerset who has shown 94 yellow and seven red cards in 24 matches this season including a remarkable 10 cautions in the Plymouth-QPR match in November. Tanner has not previously taken control of the Blues.

Squad: Barron, Currie, De Vos, Garvan, Haynes, Juan, Magilton, Lee, Naylor, Price, Richards, Sito, Supple, Westlake, Williams, Wilnis.

Photo: Action Images

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