Macca on course to face Watford

Mackail-Smith feels the pain against Wednesday Mackail-Smith feels the pain against Wednesday

  Craig Mackail-Smith expects to be fit for Albion's trip to his home town club Watford tomorrow night.


  Mackail-Smith went off with a thigh knock after scoring his fifth goal in three games in the 3-0 victory against Sheffield Wednesday at The Amex on Friday night.


  The in-form striker said: "My thigh tightened up in the second half. I thought it was best, especially with the scoreline as it was, to come off. We have got so much quality on the bench now there was no need to cause myself an injury.


  "I have been in since Saturday getting it treated, with lots of massage, and it has settled down really well. Hopefully I will be joining in training today and playing tomorrow."

 

  Watford's 30-year-old Italian striker Geijo, signed from their Italian partnership club Udinese, could make his first appearance for the Hornets.

Comments(24)

MrHove says...
10:43am Mon 17 Sep 12

Hopefully he is fit enough to start, has been leathal in front of goal recently.

Dr Baldhead says...
11:24am Mon 17 Sep 12

Guess we know by now to treat club updates on players fitnes ahead of matches with a pinch of salt. Am just as likely to get to Watford tomorrow to find Macca's not in the 18, with Gus saying something like "it wasn't worth the risk with another game coming so soon after".

Whatever with be etc - we've got the depth to cover if he doesn't make it.

rolivan says...
11:45am Mon 17 Sep 12

Dr Baldhead wrote:
Guess we know by now to treat club updates on players fitnes ahead of matches with a pinch of salt. Am just as likely to get to Watford tomorrow to find Macca's not in the 18, with Gus saying something like "it wasn't worth the risk with another game coming so soon after".

Whatever with be etc - we've got the depth to cover if he doesn't make it.
Have you ever thought it might be because Gus doesn't want the opposition to know who is going to play.

IRISHGULL says...
12:30pm Mon 17 Sep 12

Very excited about maccas recent form. I remember when he was at the posh, he had a run where he seemed to score every game. Although i feel barnes always gives a hundred percent, really looking forward to seeing CMS with Dobbie.

Dr Baldhead says...
12:34pm Mon 17 Sep 12

rolivan wrote:
Dr Baldhead wrote:
Guess we know by now to treat club updates on players fitnes ahead of matches with a pinch of salt. Am just as likely to get to Watford tomorrow to find Macca's not in the 18, with Gus saying something like "it wasn't worth the risk with another game coming so soon after".

Whatever with be etc - we've got the depth to cover if he doesn't make it.
Have you ever thought it might be because Gus doesn't want the opposition to know who is going to play.
Thanks Rolivan. No I hadn't thought of that :)

tooncgull says...
12:48pm Mon 17 Sep 12

So its Spain v Italy tomorrow night then ? ;-)
(Although Vicente will not be anywhere near Watford, and Lopez will probably not get to start.... )

More seriously - I'm tentatively starting to believe this team may be going places! (Its early days, long way to go blah blah, but weve started to steamroller teams now - we never did that last season.)

tinker000 says...
1:17pm Mon 17 Sep 12

IRISHGULL wrote:
Very excited about maccas recent form. I remember when he was at the posh, he had a run where he seemed to score every game. Although i feel barnes always gives a hundred percent, really looking forward to seeing CMS with Dobbie.
Sorry I/G wrong combo those two one or the other for me along with the support they will now get

VegasSeagull says...
1:28pm Mon 17 Sep 12

I think it would be really hard for Gus to make any changes for the Watford match, excepting injury replacements.

Watford will be different to Wednesday and they are at home. I am sure that they will see this as a test of where they are right now, just as we thought Wednesday would be a test. The Watford players, knowing what a roll we are on, will want to show their boss what they can do, this could be a hard fought match.

On the other hand we could just blow them out of the water as we did Wednesday.

LeKevo says...
1:56pm Mon 17 Sep 12

Gotta stick with a winning combo imo.

Last year we started well out the blocks until teams sussed out our only game plan.

With our current strength & form do we think that we have a couple more game changing scenario's in the event of a stuggling game..??

I'd like to think that is a definitive yes though until some of our new boys can break into the first 11 & show us what they can do better & differently I'm more than happy for Gus's current guys to keep on squeezing the life out of our opponents...UTA

kwaidam says...
1:58pm Mon 17 Sep 12

On another note... Chris Wood has joined Millwall..... that guy gets around. he really should settle down somewhere...

mark5 says...
2:01pm Mon 17 Sep 12

I do not expect Watford to have the where with all to stop us taking 3 points. If they try and defend then they will be opened up by our attacking. If they try and attack they will have to get passed what will be the meanest defence in the League and then they leave themselves open to all sorts of problems! Off to Millwall on Saturday, where I expect things will be a little trickier, although still don't expect to lose. 4 points will see us riding high!!

VegasSeagull says...
2:25pm Mon 17 Sep 12

Watford have a clear problem, they don't defend set pieces well. Possibly another problem they have is the fact that they brought in somewhere close to 15 new players during the window.

I am not so sure that set pieces will be their problem tuesday night, we tend to score more goals from open play.

Gus spent the preseason matches and training sessions working out his best team with four new faces. How the heck do you sort out the best from sixteen new faces plus your retained players.

Watford need a good performance and they need to take control of the midfield to get a good performance, this could be a fight for control.

Seagull83 says...
2:29pm Mon 17 Sep 12

A bit worried about this Geijo fella TBF, his scoring record in La Liga looks useful to say the least.

VegasSeagull says...
3:14pm Mon 17 Sep 12

Sky betting seem to be standing alone, out of the three I checked, in making Watford favs to win tuesday, with odds of 6/4 Watford and 7/4 Bton.
Paddy Power goes 6/4 Bton and 17/10 Wat. William Hill have us both at 17/10.

Geijo may have quality but so does our defense and midfield. Last season you could nearly pick out the teams that would gove Brighton trouble, this season, I haven't got a clue as I really don't know how good Brighton are. I know we are good, and each match we seem to be better than the last, but is it possible that we are better than any of us know?

VegasSeagull says...
3:34pm Mon 17 Sep 12

On saturday Watford commited more fouls than any other team in the championship, including the friday and sunday matches, 17 in total, that gives me cause for some concern.

Late tackles, tackles from behind and desperate defending can all cause injuries that last. We need to get this game won in the first half and then make some protective substituions.





,

tug509 says...
4:22pm Mon 17 Sep 12

In 3 away games Ipswich have shipped 8 goals and scored 1,in a 1-0 win at Watford.We have scored 11 in our last 3 games,so i know where my money is going. Stats aside we have a far more structured side than they currently have,and our lads are playing and moving for each other,all in all without being to cocky i cant see them getting anything from us except maybe a skill school.UTA

ballantrrae says...
4:47pm Mon 17 Sep 12

kwaidam wrote:
On another note... Chris Wood has joined Millwall..... that guy gets around. he really should settle down somewhere...
He's a Kiwi so he probably likes to travel around !

VegasSeagull says...
4:55pm Mon 17 Sep 12

tug509 wrote:
In 3 away games Ipswich have shipped 8 goals and scored 1,in a 1-0 win at Watford.We have scored 11 in our last 3 games,so i know where my money is going. Stats aside we have a far more structured side than they currently have,and our lads are playing and moving for each other,all in all without being to cocky i cant see them getting anything from us except maybe a skill school.UTA
Have to agree, their away form has been lacking but at home, well they do look to be better.
I am just hoping that we don't see our more talented players kicked up in the air.

ballantrrae says...
5:10pm Mon 17 Sep 12

tinker000 wrote:
IRISHGULL wrote:
Very excited about maccas recent form. I remember when he was at the posh, he had a run where he seemed to score every game. Although i feel barnes always gives a hundred percent, really looking forward to seeing CMS with Dobbie.
Sorry I/G wrong combo those two one or the other for me along with the support they will now get
I hope CMS is fit for tomorrow night as I don't think Poyet sees Dobbie as quite the same type of player.
Indeed I noticed that in the 3 Sept 12 edition of the Argus ie after the Burnley game and the end of the Transfer Window, that Poyet was still quoted as wanting to recruit a Target man.
Given our lack of out and out strikers -only CMS and Hosco(?) I can see his logic. However I don't think any such signing will take place for 12-14 days or so in order that we could make a loan signing for 3 months with a possible option to buy. That would mean the loan ending just as the January Window opens.
The same strategy might also apply to signing another CB as cover for Greer, El Arb and Dunk. Remember we might be down to only 2 CBs by January and Poyet said he wanted another CB after Elphick joined Bournemouth.
As far as tomorrow's game is concerned I am expecting a close encounter as the different betting organisations odds indicate. Any positive result would keep the momentum going.

tug509 says...
5:27pm Mon 17 Sep 12

Dr Baldhead wrote:
Guess we know by now to treat club updates on players fitnes ahead of matches with a pinch of salt. Am just as likely to get to Watford tomorrow to find Macca's not in the 18, with Gus saying something like "it wasn't worth the risk with another game coming so soon after".

Whatever with be etc - we've got the depth to cover if he doesn't make it.
Im sure your right, Gus does tend to play it safe when it comes to returning from an injury.Whether he does play a part or not,all the best Craig,either you get well or if you play ,make them sick!UTA

Sussex by the Sea says...
5:51pm Mon 17 Sep 12

ballantrrae wrote:
kwaidam wrote:
On another note... Chris Wood has joined Millwall..... that guy gets around. he really should settle down somewhere...
He's a Kiwi so he probably likes to travel around !
He is living upside down in the Uk so could be a bit out of sorts!

Captain Haddock says...
1:49am Tue 18 Sep 12

tooncgull wrote:
So its Spain v Italy tomorrow night then ? ;-)
(Although Vicente will not be anywhere near Watford, and Lopez will probably not get to start.... )

More seriously - I'm tentatively starting to believe this team may be going places! (Its early days, long way to go blah blah, but weve started to steamroller teams now - we never did that last season.)
On your first point, Toony, we all. Ow how the last Spain vs Italy match went, don't we?!!

On your second, I agree. Our new found ability to exploit advantage and REALLY steamroller opponents is a very welcome addition to our repertoire.

Captain Haddock says...
1:57am Tue 18 Sep 12

Captain Haddock wrote:
tooncgull wrote:
So its Spain v Italy tomorrow night then ? ;-)
(Although Vicente will not be anywhere near Watford, and Lopez will probably not get to start.... )

More seriously - I'm tentatively starting to believe this team may be going places! (Its early days, long way to go blah blah, but weve started to steamroller teams now - we never did that last season.)
On your first point, Toony, we all. Ow how the last Spain vs Italy match went, don't we?!!

On your second, I agree. Our new found ability to exploit advantage and REALLY steamroller opponents is a very welcome addition to our repertoire.
("we all know")

Captain Haddock says...
1:59am Tue 18 Sep 12

VegasSeagull wrote:
Sky betting seem to be standing alone, out of the three I checked, in making Watford favs to win tuesday, with odds of 6/4 Watford and 7/4 Bton.
Paddy Power goes 6/4 Bton and 17/10 Wat. William Hill have us both at 17/10.

Geijo may have quality but so does our defense and midfield. Last season you could nearly pick out the teams that would gove Brighton trouble, this season, I haven't got a clue as I really don't know how good Brighton are. I know we are good, and each match we seem to be better than the last, but is it possible that we are better than any of us know?
An interesting question indeed.

Personally I think we might grow to be over time.

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