Town Likely To Be Unchanged Against Canaries

Manager Mick McCarthy reported a clean bill of health at yesterday’s press conference, which probably means he will keep the same team that performed so admirably away to Wolves on Tuesday night when they fought bravely to claim a point.

The good news for Town supporters is that Brett Pitman is back in training and likely to find himself on the bench for the derby but sadly Conor Grant has not recovered in time from his groin strain.

But it is not just the blues who are suffering with injuries at the moment and Canarie goalkeeper John Ruddy (groin strain), full-back Martin Olsson (hamstring injury) and Norwich midfielder Alex Pritchard (muscle tear) are not expected to make it.

There is also a doubt about midfielder Graham Dorrans so they are not having all there one way when it comes to personal but let us face it, their squad has much more depth to it than ours so it should not make the world of difference.

I think the fact that Conor Grant is not available for the blues is a big blow. We will miss his cultured left foot and so too I believe will Daryl Murphy; who will have to rely on someone else to provide the ammunition for his ariel assaults.

Playing at Portman Road in front of a large crowd is always of some help to Town though and if we could make early inroads and ideally snatch an early goal then this would go a long way to settling the nerves.

Even at this stage in the season this is a big game for The Tractor Boys and a win would do wonders for team moral.

Norwich manager Alex Niel is mindful of the way Town play and the threat up front they pose and speaking on Norwich television he said,’Ipswich are well-organised, they work extremely hard and they’ve got some good players at the top end of the pitch. It will be a tight game, but hopefully our quality will show over the 90 minutes.’

Let us hope for a game that provides us with renewed hope for the season ahead. A win would be wonderful but even a draw against this lot would be no disgrace.

I predict a narrow Town victory for Town and supporters from all over the globe will be meeting in bars and entertainment outlets everywhere to see what the blues can do?

From Canada to New Zealand there will be Tractor Boys glued to their screens and if we could be victorious as well as entertaining then this could be a very memorable afternoon at Portman Road, if the football gods are on our side?

Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich