Preview: SWFC – Town
By Aston
February 19 2010
Town travel to Sheffield tomorrow to take on Alan Irvine’s Sheffield Wednesday side, looking to leave the bottom three.
Lee Martin and Connor Wickham could come into the squad after impressing in the reserves earlier in the week while goalkeeper Brain Murphy is being tipped to start in place of Arran Lee-Barrett. Town will be missing Jon Stead who has joined Coventry on-loan for the rest of the season, Richard Wright and Luca Civelli.
Town manager Roy Keane: "Our fans have been unbelievable, they could have been on our backs after six or seven games given the start we had but they weren't.
"They have been incredibly tolerant and have given me, in particular, the benefit of the doubt. They have been very patient but I think we used that up with the last 20 minutes we put in at Peterborough.
"The performance there wasn't good enough but it goes beyond one game. You are going to lose games in this division but we are in the bottom there and have won only two away matches all season and six in total.
"That record is not acceptable and the buck stops with me. I pick the players, I pick the substitutions, I pick the systems. For whatever reason the decisions I have made have not fallen into place and we are where we deserve to be.
"I've not shied away from that responsibility. I never did as a player and I won't as a manager.
"We've drawn far too many games and that has cost us and we know we've got a battle ahead but it's no good feeling sorry for ourselves. We all have to roll our sleeves up and get on with it.
"I'm confident in the quality we have in the squad and I'm very positive that we can climb the table. We're in a tough situation but that's life. You've got to have belief in your own ability and stick at it.
"It will be a big game for us on Saturday and I'm relishing it. It's an opportunity for us to put on a performance for our supporters because they deserve one."
Irvine's side will be missing former Town midfielder Tommy Miller, Lewis Buxton and Jermaine Johnson.
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