Boss Paul Jewell looks set to tweak his side as the Blues go into their fifth game in March with Burnley the opposition at Portman Road this evening (KO 7.45pm). The Town manager has said one or two players have gone slightly off the boil recently with matches coming thick and fast.

One of those who could be set for a rest is right midfielder Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who has had a quiet couple of games. Jewell said he spoke to the former Arsenal man earlier in the week: “I had a long chat with him [yesterday] morning.

“He’s getting to grips with Championship football, playing three games in a week sometimes and the intensity of training. It’s his first full season at it, so he’s getting better and he’s been a really bright spark for us in the last three months.

“He’s improved and he’s got some unbelievable ability and we’re just trying to get that on a more consistent basis.

“With young players you do get inconsistency, that’s what happens and on Saturday it just wasn’t his day. But if he plays against Burnley, it could well be.”

The Blues boss may be tempted to rest the 21-year-old and perhaps recall Josh Carson, who hasn’t featured since the 2-2 home draw with Blackpool in January.

Jewell could also switch Andy Drury for Lee Bowyer in central midfield with the former Luton man having looked slightly off the pace in the last couple of games.

Elsewhere, the Town manager will probably stick with the same side with Alex McCarthy in goal, skipper Carlos Edwards and Aaron Cresswell the full-backs and Damien Delaney and Tommy Smith the centre-halves.

Jewell could consider whether to recall Ibrahima Sonko after Town conceded two goals against Peterborough, however, ultimately he’ll probably choose to continue with his current central defensive pairing.

In midfield, Grant Leadbitter will be looking to add to this three goals in two games with Daryl Murphy likely to keep his place on the left and Lee Martin in his role behind lone striker Michael Chopra.

Jewell says Jimmy Bullard won’t be involved in the 16 despite returning from his club suspension on Friday.

The Town boss was pleased with the way his team reacted to Peterborough’s second equaliser on Saturday, Cresswell netting the winner soon afterwards: “I think it was about confidence and having the belief in themselves to come back from setbacks.

“On Saturday it probably could have been any score but we showed a lot of character to bounce back whereas in the past, I’m thinking of the games at home against Watford and Reading and Notts Forest away, we would have lost. I think we’ve got better but we’ve still got a long, long way to go.

“It’s momentum, isn’t it? Sometimes you can’t stop going forwards, sometimes whatever you try and do when you’re on that slide you don’t seem to be able to put it right and you’re going through games wondering whether you’ll ever win again.

“Sometimes you’re going into games like we are at the minute where we’re very wary and respectful of the opposition but where we’re thinking that we’re going to win.”

Despite admitting that Town are still a long way from where he wants them to be, Jewell is pleased with the way his team has come together in recent weeks, particularly from an attacking perspective: “I think the full-backs and the wide players have worked well together, the midfield players work well.

“Lee Martin’s worked really well with Michael Chopra, so going forward certainly we’ve looked a threat.”

The Blues boss also says the fans have played their part in the recent run: “The players are hugely indebted to the supporters. We’ve put on some really poor performances this season, both home and away.

“But the supporters have never deserted us, they’ve always been desperate for us to do well and got behind us.

“You can tell they are so keen and desperate for success, and we’re keen to bring it to them. They’ve played a huge part in our resurgent run of late. I think it’s at Reading their fans are down as the 12th man on the programme, and they really are.

“It’s an old cliché but they really are hugely important and I think sometimes they underestimate their importance and the confidence they can give the players. Or sometimes they can drain players’ confidence by being on their backs. But our supporters certainly have never done that.”

Town appear unlikely to be either embroiled in a relegation battle or seriously challenging for the play-offs in the weeks to come but Jewell says there’ll be no sitting back: “We’ll just take each and every game as it comes and do our best in every match and every training session.

“We don’t want the season to finish because there’s an awful lot to play for. You never know what can happen beneath us or above us and we want to finish in as high a place as possible.

“We’ve got good momentum at the moment and we want to continue that. There are 10 games left and there are an awful lot of points to play for. There’s no letting up here.”

Burnley will give 21-goal top scorer Jay Rodriguez every chance to recover from the groin injury which saw him miss the 0-0 draw at Cardiff on Sunday but otherwise have no other fitness issues.

Assistant manager Jason Tindall says he expects the Blues to be a different proposition than they were during the 4-0 defeat to the Clarets in November: "They are certainly a different outfit to the one that was here at Turf Moor earlier in the season so it's a tough game for us, but it's a game we know we can win."

No current Blue has been a Claret, although scout David Hamilton was at Turf Moor as a player in the early nineties and Town targeted Charlie Austin when he was at Swindon soon after Paul Jewell took over at Portman Road last year and Jay Rodriguez last summer.

No one in Eddie Howe’s squad has ever featured for Town, although Blues midfielder Jaime Peters and Burnley's David Edgar are close friends having played at various levels with Canada together.

In November at Turf Moor, Town’s run of defeats stretched to six games as the Blues were thumped 4-0 at Burnley with manager Jewell slamming his side’s performance after the game.

Sam Vokes opened the scoring from a header from a corner, then Chris McCann added the second just before the break. The Irishman grabbed his second and the Clarets’ third, before Rodriguez completed the scoring.

On the second weekend of last season at Portman Road, Clarke Carlisle netted an injury time equaliser for 10-man Burnley as the Blues began their home campaign with a 1-1 draw.

Town looked to have won the match when David Norris backheeled home from inches out four minutes from time in a game in which David Edgar saw red for two bookable offences.

Overall, Town have won 16 of the games between the sides (15 in the league), Burnley 10 (10) with a further 10 (10) ending in draws.

Tonight’s referee is James Linington from Newport, who has shown 97 yellow cards and six red in 30 games so far this season. Linington’s most recent Town match was the 3-2 defeat at Nottingham Forest in November in which he booked only Greg Cunningham from the home side.

Squad from: McCarthy, Lee-Barrett, Edwards, Cresswell, Smith, Delaney, Sonko, Drury, Hyam, Leadbitter, Bowyer, Stevenson, Emmanuel-Thomas, Murphy, Carson, Martin, Chopra, Scotland.

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

Photo: Action Images

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