Brett Pitman and Jonathan Douglas return to the starting line-up for Ben Pringle and Kevin Bru, who drop to the bench, as the Blues face Blackburn Rovers at Portman Road this evening.

Town seem likely to start with a three-man central midfield of Douglas, Cole Skuse and Luke Hyam. With Blackburn playing a diamond formation, Pitman seems likely to play behind front two Freddie Sears and Daryl Murphy.

Kevin Foley comes back on to the bench with Ainsley Maitland-Niles left out of the 18.

Rovers, who are playing their 10th game in 31 days make five changes with Adam Henley, Corry Evans, Chris Brown, Matt Grimes and Simeon Jackson all starting.

Tony Watt, Ben Marshall, Jordi Gomez and Darragh Lenihan move to the bench, while Danny Graham - scorer of four goals in his last two games against Town - is sidelined with a back injury suffered at the weekend.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Hyam, Douglas, Sears, Pitman, Murphy. Subs: Gerken, Digby, Bru, Pringle, Foley, Touré, Varney.

Blackburn: Steele, Henley, Duffy, Hanley (c), Spurr, Evans, Akpan, Grimes, Bennett, Jackson, Brown. Subs: Raya, Watt, Marshall, J Gomez, Ward, Lenihan, Conway. Referee: Iain Williamson (Berkshire).

Photo: Action Images

billlm added 19:14 - Mar 15 Mm must be smiling from ear to ear took a while but he has managed to get all his favourites back in, but even this team should beat a poor Blackburn team.
1

Tufty added 19:19 - Mar 15 hopefully more of a 4-3-3
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jas0999 added 19:19 - Mar 15 Should be a straight forward win.
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iaintaylorx added 19:21 - Mar 15 Oh for goodness sake!! He says he goes into every game with a mentality and mindset on winning every game! He field a midfield 3 of Hyam, Skuse AND douglas!? I feel sorry for fans paying tonight to see that mindset! I hope we get those three points and if we do, well done to the boys! I have lost all my patience with MM! Blackburn are down there for a reason, whybis Bru not starting? Why IS Douglas starting? Why is Sears not a main striker and WHY is Foley not starting? Ridiculous!!!

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iaintaylorx added 19:22 - Mar 15 ...apologies for my spelling, but I'm just not very happy!
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prebbs007 added 19:32 - Mar 15 So. Drop our only 2 creative midfielders. McCarthy you're an idiot !!!!
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braveblue added 19:34 - Mar 15 What a farce. Is this the least creative midfield we could choose for a must win game. Bet Sears is pushed out wide.
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prebsa added 19:34 - Mar 15 Iaintaylorx. Totally agree. Where in that midfield three do we creat goals. Which one creates a defence splitting pass. Who makes a surging run past players and sets off a forward. Il answer it for you even though you probably know the answer. It's none of them! Bru and Pringle are the two that can do that and foley has been showing us he is up for doing that too. An awful midfield 3! But with 3 forwards on the pitch we better flippin score! It's pretty cold out there so lots of running. Let's get 3 points. COYB

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hinchers1066 added 19:37 - Mar 15 Absolute DINOSAUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bru and Pringle on the bench. Where oh where is the creativity coming from. Pre match interview with MM " I approach every game to win" Absolute joke. Not attending, not listening listening, NOT interested. Wake me up when MM sees the light, although it seems to be a very long tunnel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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mow_the_lawn added 19:40 - Mar 15 Most depressing, least exciting line up he could've mustered up. Happy to be proved wrong but dropping Pringle and Bru without apparent injuries is very questionable.
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warktheline added 19:45 - Mar 15 Maybe he intends to bypass midfield whilst in possession, and shut them down in midfield out of possession? Lambert has enjoyed handsome success against us , let's hope it ends tonight.
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Bluetone added 19:51 - Mar 15 Are they coming out to Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the sky"?
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Premierbluez added 20:12 - Mar 15 Where is the Chat room?
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