Boss Roy Keane looks set to give Spurs loanee Jake Livermore his first Town start when Leeds United visit Portman Road on Saturday afternoon. The Blues manager is without skipper David Norris and 18-year-old holding midfielder Luke Hyam due to suspension.

Keane says Livermore is very much in his thoughts: “He’s had a week or so here now, a number of training sessions and it was nice to get him on the pitch for 15-20 minutes [at Reading]. I think he did reasonably well in that time and he’ll be pushing for place.

“But that depends on which system we play. He’s clearly a talented player and if we have to start with him I have no problem whatsoever.”

The Town manager admits the suspended duo will be a loss: “We’re going to miss the two boys, but you’ve got to take your punishment, Luke with his sending off the other night and David with his five bookings. But we’ve got good options — Colin Healy, Jake, Jaime Peters can play in there. We’ll be OK.”

Leeds will be looking to bounce back from their amazing 6-4 home defeat to Preston in midweek and Keane anticipates a reaction from Simon Grayson’s men: “We played Millwall a few weeks ago and they were on the back of a 6-1 home defeat. You’re never sure whether there’s going to be a response, but you’d expect one. Our job is just to make sure we’re prepared properly and we’re switched on.

“I think it was a crazy scoreline but that can happen in the Championship, we’ve seen some strange results and that’s why it’s so unpredictable.”

Despite that defeat, Leeds are currently in 10th and Keane says it’s no surprise to see all the newly-promoted sides in the top half of the table: “I said in the summer that I expected Millwall, Leeds and Norwich to have good seasons, a bit like when Leicester came up and made the play-offs.

“They’ve also had some good results and they still scored four goals at home the other night. OK they’ll be disappointed with the goals conceded, but sometimes when you get promoted and have a go at teams, you have to be prepared to lose matches and that sometimes you’ll concede four or five.

“They’re clearly having a go at teams. I wouldn’t be overly concerned about that from their point of view, but obviously nobody likes to concede too many goals.”

The Town boss says he wasn’t too disappointed with the performance at Reading and in the second half at Scunthorpe: “I think in the game the other night we played some not bad stuff and in the second half at Scunny, and we only picked up one point. Prior to that we weren’t playing not that great stuff and were getting results and getting good victories.

“It’s about getting the balance right. You want to play well, but we all watch enough football to know that if you get these chances you’ve got to take them. We didn’t do that and we got punished for it.

“We hope that if create the same type of chances against Leeds we’ll take them, because if we don’t, we’ll get punished. That’s pretty straight forward.”

Keane’s main injury concern is central defender Darren O’Dea, who continues to have a problem with his knee. If the Celtic loanee fails to make it, Tommy Smith, who has a back injury which could prevent him travelling to New Zealand for two friendlies next week, will replace him on the left-side of the central defence alongside Gareth McAuley.

Troy Brown, who Keane expects to be OK despite suffering a knock in midweek, looks likely to keep his place at right-back after impressing his manager at Reading, while Jaime Peters could again be used on the left, although Mark Kennedy is another option. Márton Fülöp will be in goal.

Keane could well switch to a four-man midfield with Grant Leadbitter — like Brown expected to be over a minor knock — alongside Livermore. Andros Townsend and Carlos Edwards will take the wide roles.

The Blues boss could give Tamás Priskin a recall in the more advanced striking position with Jason Scotland or perhaps even Colin Healy in the deeper role. Connor Wickham has looked short on fitness in the last couple of games and will probably be on the bench.

Shane O’Connor and Luciano Civelli will be involved in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Millwall next week as they continue their recoveries from hamstring and knee injuries, while Alan Quinn remains the only long-term absentee with a groin problem.

Leeds could recall winger Robert Snodgrass after suspension, while former Cardiff striker Ross McCormack, who held talks regarding a move to Portman Road in the summer, is a doubt. Paul Connolly, Patrick Kisnorbo, Fede Bessone, Leigh Bromby, Aidan White, Kasper Schmeichel, Ben Parker and Billy Paynter are all sidelined with injury.

Whites manager Simon Grayson has spent the time since Tuesday’s home thrashing considering his options: "Everyone again comes into consideration. I didn't make too many kneejerk reactions after the Barnsley game [which Leeds lost 5-2 earlier in the season]."

"Certain decisions were made because I felt they were the right thing to do. But now there are all sorts of permutations open to me ahead of the weekend. I have certain thoughts as to how we need to play at the weekend, what players can come in.

"We pick ourselves up and have to be ready to go again. I will pick the team up ahead of what will be a great game to be involved in.

"I don't want to have to say this again that we need a response. I want to go through a 10-game period where any defeats are by one goal."

Grayson says that overall he has enjoyed his time at Elland Road having won promotion to the Championship in May: "The good times have outweighed the bad times over the past two or years so and one of the reasons is that we never get carried away and we never get too despondent.

"People have said if we'd have won the other night we'd have been second or third. That would have been great and we'd have looked to stay there, but we're not and we go again at Ipswich on Saturday.

"I'm looking forward to Saturday because it's the next game. We went into the last international break in a decent position on the back of a win, and there's no reason why we can't do the same this time."

Historically, Leeds have the superior record in the fixture, winning 26 (25 in the league) clashes between the teams, Town victorious on 21 (16) occasions and with 18 (15) games ending in draws.

The last time the sides met was at the end of the 2006/07 season at Elland Road when a 1-1 draw all but relegated the home side. Alan Lee equalised Richard Cresswell's first half goal with four minutes remaining. The late strike led to a pitch invasion by the home fans who threw coins and other missiles at the Town support during a 30-minute interruption in play.

Earlier that season, a Gavin Williams goal on the stroke of half-time had given the Blues a 1-0 victory at Portman Road. Leeds midfielder Kevin Nicholls was sent off six minutes from the end for elbowing Danny Haynes.

The Leeds squad is captained by former Blue Richard Naylor while Alex Bruce joined the Whites from Town over the summer. No current member of Roy Keane’s squad has previously played for Leeds.

Town’s Norwegian supporters will be in in force at the game and around town over the weekend, while a large group of fans supporting both clubs are on their way over from Fermanagh and South Tyrone in Northern Ireland.

Police are warning supporters that there could be delays around the ground before and after the match.

Saturday’s referee is Keith Hill from Hertfordshire, who has shown a concerning 34 yellow cards and two red in seven games so far this season. Hill’s most recent Town match was the 1-1 home draw with Middlesbrough in February in which he yellow-carded only one member of each team, David Norris the Blues player.

Squad from: Fülöp, Murphy, Brown, Peters, Kennedy, O’Dea, McAuley, Smith, Delaney, Eastman, Leadbitter, Healy, Livermore, Hourihane, Edwards, Townsend, Lambe, Priskin, Scotland, Wickham, Murray.

Photo: ITFC

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

Photo: Action Images

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