GARETH McAuley is set to return to the Blues squad for the Carling Cup match at Peterborough tomorrow.

Derek Davis

GARETH McAuley is set to return to the Blues squad for the Carling Cup match at Peterborough tomorrow.

McAuley was dropped for the 2-0 loss at West Brom but manager Roy Keane insists he is still very much part of his plans.

He denied reports this morning of a row between the two and confirmed he will travel to London Road.

Keane said: “Gareth has every chance to be involved.

“Gareth has been fine. He is a good lad, a good professional. He was on the bench on Saturday and probably felt he was unlucky.

There has been no bust up with Gareth. He is a good bloke and I have a lot of time for Gareth.”

There could also be recalls for Colin Healy and Damien Delaney who were also left out of the game at the Hawthorns, while Pablo Counago could get his first action of the season.

Keane said: “Colin and Damien will be back involved and we will make our mind up after raining.

“One or two lads will come back into the squad.

“Pablo has trained well and he will certainly be involved. He has looked half decent in training and he is a goal threat so he is in my plans.”

Although Richard Wright was man of the match at West Brom he may be rested allowing new signing Arran Lee-Barrett the chance to make his Town debut.

Keane is looking to win and with the Posh unlikely to be changed too much, he may not use as many of the young players as he did at Shrewsbury.

He said: “There won't be as many changes as there was last time because then we had two games in three days and I gave a run out to the youngsters. This will also be a tougher game and one or two of our senior players need another 90 minutes under their belts.

“We have not won either so it should be a close contest.

“We are expecting a good game. It is something of a derby game for us with Norwich and Colchester not in our league

“They will be keen to get a win under their belt just like ourselves. That win can kick start our season and they will be looking at it with the same point of view as ourselves.

“They don't play until Monday night so I expect Darren (Ferguson) will put out a strong team and we expect nothing less than a tough game.

“It is another game and another challenge and we would like a win. We enjoyed the last round with the young players even if we made hard work of it.”