McCarthy to bring in ‘a few fresh faces’ at Villa as he hints at Huws start

Huws returned to the side as a second-half substitute in the 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday, but McCarthy has now said the midfielder is ‘ready to play’ and could do so at a ground he scored the winner at last season.

The Ipswich Town boss has no further injury concerns aside from David McGoldrick’s absence following surgery on his groin, with Jonas Knudsen coming back into the side in place of Myles Kenlock.

MORE: Ipswich have lost McGoldrick for a month... so who will McCarthy use in his place?

“There will be a few fresh faces in the team tomorrow. It’s nice to have a few more options,” he said.

Emyr Huws celebrates scoring Ipswich's late winner at Villa Park last season. Picture: PAGEPIX (Image: Pagepix Ltd 07976 935738)

“All the players except Didzy so we’ve got the same squad apart from David McGoldrick. He has been playing well, Didz, and I hope we don’t miss him.

“Whoever comes in, whether it’s one or more than one, I hope they play as well as he has.

“Emyr is ready to play but we’ll see whether he covers 90 minutes or not but it’s great to have him back.”

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Tommy Smith and Tom Adeyemi both remain sidelined, with McCarthy unsure whether Adeyemi will be ready in time for his planned return against Nottingham Forest next Saturday,

“Tom is still with the physio and Forest is coming pretty quickly now, so I’m not so sure about that.

“He was fit to play but he just aggravated it.”