Boss Roy Keane is weighing up whether to give loan midfielder Jack Colback his second debut for the Blues when Town travel to Watford this evening (KO 7.45pm). Shane O’Connor could return to the side at left-back with Mark Kennedy having joined Darren O’Dea on the sidelines with injury.

Keane says that Colback may not yet be ready to start after returning on loan from Sunderland on Friday: “I think it helps that Jack was here last year, but we’ve got to be careful with Jack because he’s not played much football up at Sunderland, although he’s been involved in the reserves.

“It’s not a case of throwing Jack straight in and expecting miracles. We’re delighted to have Jack back at the club, another young player we’ve brought in like Darren O’Dea, Jake Livermore and Andros Townsend.

“He’ll be in the squad but whether we’re going to throw him straight in remains to be seen. We’re in on Tuesday morning before we travel, so we’ll weigh things up.”

Colback is an outside possibility for the left-back position rather than his more usual midfield role with Mark Kennedy ruled out for around three weeks with a hamstring injury and Darren O’Dea having undergone knee surgery last week.

The Blues boss is perplexed as to why the left side of his defence appears to be cursed: “There seems to have been a problem with the left-back situation ever since I walked into the club. I think players have done good jobs for us, often considering it’s not really their natural position, but we just get on with it.”

Shane O’Connor looks the most likely option with Keane having been pleased with the 20-year-old since his return from his torn hamstring: “Shane’s looked reasonably sharp in training, so there’s a good chance Shane will come back into it.”

The Town manager is expecting a typically competitive Championship match against Watford: “They beat us down there last year and I wouldn’t expect anything less. In my time at Ipswich I don’t ever remember a game where we felt comfortable, every game has been tough.

“I think we’re making good progress, particularly our younger players, and instead of moaning and groaning, get behind these young boys. Three or four of these young boys were in the youth team last year and we’re asking them to do jobs in important positions in the team.

“Look at Luke Hyam. There we are asking a young boy, 18-years-of-age to do a senior role. Every other club up and down the country that plays that system has a player with vast experience.

“Luke Hyam was up against Lee Carsley on Saturday. Lee’s probably played 500 or 600 games, 400 or so at the top level, 50 caps on top of that. When we faced QPR we were up against the Shaun Derrys of this world.

“We’re asking young boys to do men’s jobs and that’s why we’re going to have our disappointments. But I couldn’t be happier with the players.”

The Town boss says his squad has the character to bounce back after the weekend defeat: “Whether or not we make changes to look for a reaction, I know there will be a reaction, that’s the nature of our group of players.

“I know they are decent lads. If anything I feel sorry for them a bit for having to put up with me. I think I’m quite demanding, but having said that I’ve got great respect for them.

“As much as I get angry and frustrated sometimes, like we all do, I’ve got great time for them. I take my hat off to my players since we came back for pre-season, particularly the younger boys.”

The Blues boss has been impressed with his Hornets counterpart Malky Mackay: “Malky’s bought well, he’s obviously a good manager, they’ve used the loan system well. They’ve got good experience, they’ve got good energy in their team, they’re scoring lots of goals.

“When you look at the teams at the top of the division, they’re all scoring a lot more goals than us, so for us to be hanging on to them at this moment in time we’re fairly pleased because we know we need to be more of a goal threat.”

Keane is unlikely to make a change in goal despite Márton Fülöp having looked less solid at the weekend, while Jaime Peters will probably continue at right-back. Shane O’Connor looks likely to come in on the left with Gareth McAuley in his usual right-side of central defence role.

The Blues boss may feel that Tommy Smith, who has an ongoing back problem, needs a rest and could recall Damien Delaney to the starting line-up alongside McAuley, the Republic of Ireland international having played only one senior game since suffering his potentially very serious thigh injury in pre-season.

Keane will probably continue with his contentious policy of fielding a lone striker with Jason Scotland again set to get the nod. The Trinidadian is yet to score away from home for the Blues but is already matching his precise one goal every other league game record from his time at Swansea.

While Carlos Edwards and Andros Townsend appear shoo-ins for the wide roles, the Town boss has plenty of options for the three central roles. Keane could choose to switch Grant Leadbitter to the holding position in place of Luke Hyam and bring skipper David Norris back alongside Jake Livermore with Jack Colback likely to get a call from the bench at some stage, along with Connor Wickham.

Reggie Lambe is away with Bermuda’s U20s and won’t be back in time for next week’s Carling Cup tie against Northampton, while Alan Quinn is closing in on a return after his lengthy absence with the groin injury he suffered in pre-season. The former Irish international is likely to be involved in the reserves at Stevenage next Wednesday with no second string match scheduled for this week.

Watford, who sit one place ahead of the Blues in fourth by virtue of their better goal difference, will be without Scottish international midfielder Don Cowie, who twisted knee ligaments in the 3-2 defeat to Portsmouth at the weekend.

Fellow midfielder Ross Jenkins continues to be a doubt with his ankle problem, while regular sub goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin will probably be back in the squad after a thigh injury.

Watford have won only once at home this season and Mackay, a former Canary, is aiming to improve that record against the Blues: “We want to be at it against Ipswich back at the Vic with our home fans. It’s going to be a tough test as they’ve been on a roll this season.

“They lost on Saturday but it is a fine margin in this league between winning and losing and everyone is in the same boat. We’ll be making sure that we go out there and do things properly while hopefully exciting our fans.”

Town haven’t beaten Watford in 11 games home and away since March 2004 when a Dean Bowditch hat-trick and a rarity from Jermaine Wright condemned the Hornets to a 4-1 defeat at Portman Road.

At Vicarage Road, Town’s last win came earlier that season when the Blues ran out 2-1 victors with Shefki Kuqi netting on his debut and Jim Magilton chipping in a late winner after Scott Fitzgerald had put the home side in front. Watford have won the last five games between the teams on their home territory.

Despite this recent poor record, the Blues have still had the better of Watford historically, winning 24 times (21 in the league), losing 20 (19) and drawing 16 (16).

In last season’s corresponding fixture, Roy Keane kept his team in their dressing room for a lengthy post-mortem after a 2-1 defeat in which he subbed Owen Garvan after only 22 minutes.

The home side had gone in front after Henri Lansbury’s freekick beat everyone in the area and nestled in the corner of the net. Jack Colback equalised as the Blues improved in the second half but Will Hoskins scored the winner for the Hornets.

Earlier in the season, Watford sub Nathan Ellington had netted a late equaliser to stretch the Blues’ winless run to 13 games. Town had gone ahead through Gareth McAuley early on and should have been well in front before again conceding a last-gasp goal.

Tamás Priskin joined the Blues from Watford for £1.7 million in the summer of 2009 and is the only ex-Watford player in Town’s ranks, while Hornets keeper Scott Loach was an academy schoolboy at Playford Road.

Watford goalkeeper-coach Alec Chamberlain was also a youth player with the Blues but never made a first team appearance, unlike Hornets first team coach David Kerslake, who made three starts and six sub appearances for George Burley’s side in the 1997/98 season.

Live commentary on tonight’s game is available on Five Live Sports Extra on digital radio and online here but only for UK listeners.

This evening’s referee is Pat Miller from Bedfordshire, who has shown 32 yellow and two red cards in eight games so far this season. Miller’s most recent Town match was the 1-0 home victory over Scunthorpe last season in which he booked Jack Colback and two Iron players as well as red-carding Cliff Byrne for an off-the-ball elbow on the Blues loanee and Damien Delaney for a trip on halfway.

The Irish defender’s dismissal was subsequently overturned, coincidentally allowing him to play in last season’s game at Watford.

Squad from: Fülöp, Murphy, Peters, Eastman, O’Connor, McAuley, Smith, Delaney, Brown, Leadbitter, Hyam, Norris, Livermore, Colback, Healy, Townsend, Edwards, Scotland, Priskin, Wickham, Murray.

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

Photo: Action Images

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