Defensive troubles dominate Phil Brown’s thinking ahead of the visit of his old mucker Sam Allardyce and his Blackburn Rovers side to the KC Stadium tomorrow.
Left back Andy Dawson and central defender Anthony Gardner picked up thigh and knee injuries respectively during the defeat at Aston Villa last week and have not trained at all.
A ready-made replacement for Dawson awaits in the shape of Kevin Kilbane, a change which many feel is overdue even without an injury to Dawson, but replacing Gardner will be more tricky, with the raw duo of Liam Cooper and Steven Mouyokolo and unconvincing (and almost entirely forgotten) loanee Ibrahima Sonko the only obvious candidates. If Dawson makes it, Kilbane could also slot into the centre.
Of course, there is also a gap, nay a yawning chasm, a crevice of immeasurable girth, to fill to in Jimmy Bullard’s absence, though Brown is likely to revert back to 4-4-2 and choose Geovanni up front, leaving Dean Marney and George Boateng as the midfield pairing. However, Seyi Olofinjana is available after hamstring trouble and, given his last City game was his scoring appearance against Stoke City, may be seen as ideal to freshen up the central midfield. And Brown has even mentioned Tom Cairney this week, whose debut in the Premier League is long overdue, though his best hope is still probably the bench.
Finally, one hopes and prays that Brown has noticed Matt Duke’s incompetence of late and restores Boaz Myhill, who regained his fitness ages ago, to the position of goalkeeper.
This is a very winnable game for City, and the emphasis on that cannot be underestimated given that four of the subsequent five Premier League matches are essentially no-brainers against Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Therefore, three points against a side who won 2-1 at the Circle in depressing circumstances last season would be both welcome and crucial.
