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Keane Weighing Up Changes for Millwall Cup Tie
Keane Weighing Up Changes for Millwall Cup Tie
Tuesday, 21st Sep 2010 08:49 by TWTD.co.uk

Boss Roy Keane says he is weighing up what changes to make for tonight’s third round Carling Cup tie at Millwall (KO 7.45pm). The Blues manager has confirmed that keeper Brian Murphy will start, while Tamás Priskin could also come into the side with Connor Wickham and Jason Scotland perhaps dropping to the bench.

Keane says there were one or two players suffering minor injuries after Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Cardiff City and that their condition will be assessed before the match: “There no major concerns, but there are a couple of knocks, as you'd expect. We’ll weight things up and we’ll gauge the reaction of the players and finalise the squad that’s going to travel down.

“We’ll have a light session on Tuesday morning, so we’ll take stock then. There may be one or two changes.

”We have to careful of certain players who are just coming back from injury — whether they can play another game three days after a tough match on Saturday.

“We’ve got another league game on Saturday, another midweek match next week, so we have to try and look at the bigger picture and not take any chances with lads who are still trying to get to match fitness.”

The Blues boss says Connor Wickham is amongst those who may be rested: “Connor would come into that bracket, like one or two others. Jason Scotland is still getting match fitness, Darren O’Dea’s still feeling his knee a little bit, so Mark Kennedy and Damien Delaney are pushing to get involved.

“There’s a good chance of Tamás getting involved. I think his 10 minutes the other night against Cardiff was just what you want from your substitutions. Colin Healy did OK when he came on as well.

“Tamás will be itching to get a start because generally speaking he’s done well for us and he probably thinks he’s been a bit unlucky to be left out. If he gets his chance tomorrow, he won’t let us down.”

Keane could also make changes in midfield: “I was supposed to be resting Chuck for the Exeter game but he ended up playing the full 120 minutes. I don’t think he’s forgiven me since!

“Some of these lads haven’t even missed a minute of training, so there’s a good chance that Chuck and Grant might have to be part of our squad rotation.”

The Town manager says he will again look to involve his younger players, hinting that academy second-year midfielder Josh Carson could again be involved having been on the bench at Exeter: “You look at our team selections in the last couple of rounds in the cup and the young players have been involved and have all done well.

“One or two of the young boys will get another chance at Millwall because I have to look at the bigger picture and there are players in our team who aren’t capable of playing three games in a week yet because they’re still catching up with their fitness levels as they’ve been out with injury or are new to the club and missed a lot of pre-season.

“Our young boys will maybe get an opportunity at Millwall. Sometimes you’ve just got to throw them in and see if they sink or swim.”

Keane says he expects Millwall to be determined to get back to winning ways after Saturday’s 6-1 home thrashing by Watford: “That sometimes happens in football. You have an off-day and the other team are in good form and everything they hit seems to go in. We’ve all experienced that before, whether as players or as managers.

“But that was their first home defeat for something like 10 months, so rather than focusing on one game, let’s give them credit for having an outstanding home record and the fact that they’ve had a very good start to the season, considering they’ve been promoted. Just like us last Tuesday after the QPR game, they’ll want a reaction and they’ll get one.”

While Kevin Lisbie is unavailable under the terms of his loan to the Lions, the game sees the Blues come up against old boy Liam Trotter. The Ipswich-born midfielder was offered a one-year contract by the Blues but chose to sign a two-year deal with Millwall, having twice spent time on loan at the Den.

Keane says he would have liked the 22-year-old to have stayed at Portman Road: “We offered him a contract. Trots is a good player, I like Trots, he has a nice way about him. He’d been at the club a number of years and he had the option to go to Millwall, having had a taste of it on loan there, so he decided to take that.

“We were disappointed, but you move on. Players have the option when their contracts are up and he took that option to go to Millwall. I wish him well, he never caused me an ounce of trouble and I’ll always have a bit of time for him.

“Sometimes when a young player comes up through a club they need to leave the club to go to another level and that’s what he’s done. I’ve a lot of time for Trots, he’s a good lad and a good player.”

As with the previous Carling Cup ties, second guessing Keane’s team is all but impossible, but the Blues boss has confirmed that Brian Murphy will start in goal, having been man of the match at Crewe in the last round, despite suffering a minor knock in training on Sunday.

Mark Kennedy could come in at left-back with Darren O’Dea still not over his knee injury and the one-time Millwall trainee needing games as he returns from his hamstring problem. Shane O’Connor is out for at least another week.

The Town manager could replace Gareth McAuley with Troy Brown, while Damien Delaney may be in the running for a return in Tommy Smith’s left-sided role after his thigh injury.

Keane could go with either a three-man or four-man midfield. Luke Hyam may return having been rested on Saturday, particularly if one of Grant Leadbitter or David Norris are left out.

Keane says Luciano Civelli is not yet ready for a return to the first team, while summer signing Conor Hourihane is unlikely to be involved having failed to impress him in the reserves but Northern Irish U17 international Josh Carson will probably be amongst the subs.

Andros Townsend and Carlos Edwards are likely to take the wide roles in either formation, although Reggie Lambe could also be in consideration, while Tamás Priskin will probably up front with Colin Healy perhaps playing in the role between the midfield and the lone striker that he often occupies in the reserves if Keane chooses to go with a four-man midfield. Jason Scotland and Connor Wickham will probably be amongst the subs.

Millwall striker Theo Robinson is cup-tied, while midfielder Jimmy Abdou is a slight doubt with an ankle injury. Kevin Lisbie can’t play against the Blues under the terms of his loan.

Liam Trotter moved to the Den from Portman Road during the summer, while striker Kevin Lisbie is on loan with the Lions for the season. Another former Blue, full-back or midfielder Scott Barron, recently signed a new three-year-deal with Kenny Jackett's club.

Town full-back Mark Kennedy started his career with the Lions, making 46 starts and eight sub appearances and scoring 12 goals between 1992 and 1995. Jaime Peters had trials at Millwall and then-boss Dennis Wise was keen to sign him before the Canadian joined the Blues in 2005.

Perhaps surprisingly, Millwall have had the better of it historically, winning 15 games between the sides (14 in the league) to Town’s 14 (12), while 12 (12) have ended in draws.

Town were last at the Den in the league in March 2006 for a match which ended 1-1. Owen Garvan opened the scoring for the Blues in the sixth minute but David Livermore hit back for the home side with five minutes remaining. Lions defender Tony Craig was red-carded in injury timefor a second bookable offence.

The teams last met in the Carling Cup at the second round stage in 2000/01, the Londoners winning the first leg 2-0 at the Den before Town went through after a 5-0 victory at Portman Road, three of those goals coming in extra time after the Lions had been reduced to nine men.

Town’s 6-1 victory at the old Den in the sixth round on the way to the 1978 FA Cup is the only other cup tie to have been played between the sides.

Tuesday’s referee is Portman Road favourite Andy D’Urso from Billericay, who has shown 10 yellow cards and one red in five games so far this season. D’Urso’s most recent Town match was the 3-0 defeat to Sheffield United on the final day of last season in which he sent off debutant Tom Eastman for two bookable offences.

Squad from: Murphy, Fülöp, Lee-Barrett, Eastman, Peters, Kennedy, O’Dea, McAuley, Smith, Delaney, Brown, Hyam, Leadbitter, Norris, Healy, Carson, Edwards, Townsend, Lambe, Priskin, Wickham, Scotland, Murray.

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

Photo: Action Images



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