The ex-QPR man was due to miss the Millwall game because of the amount of bookings he has already picked up this season. However, due to the postponing of the game, the suspension has rolled forward to tonight.
As a result, it is now expected that youngster Calvin Andrew will lead the line on his own again if Blackwell continues with the lone front-man formation that he used earlier on in the season, despite the improvement in form since the recent move to 4-4-2.
Loan signings Marc Wilson and Anthony Grant were ineligible for the F.A. Cup replay against Brentford and it remains to be seen whether they will get clearance to play tonight from Portsmouth and Chelsea respectively. Whereas, other loanee, Jaroslaw Fojut played and scored in the first round so is expected to be able to play at centre-half.
If not, I suspect the team will be as follows:
Brill, Perry, Coyne, Fojut, Jackson. Bell, Robinson, Edwards, Currie. McVeigh. Andrew.
There are positives for tonight too. Firstly, that we were able to beat Forest 2-1 in the league, back in October. Secondly, Nathan Tyson and Sammy Clingan should be out for the visitors and finally, as any of you who have been to a home night game know, Luton under the Kenny Road floodlights have almost always been a very different proposition to an ordinary Luton Town.
A repeat of the Liverpool third round tie would await the Hatters were they to beat Nottingham Forest. However, being in administration and operating a wage deferral system, it would be the Sky money for the tie that would be seen as more important than the return of Rafa Benitez's men to Kenilworth Road for the second time in three years.
Most players have in their contract that if they are not paid in a certain amount of time, even if they agree to a wage deferral, they become free-agents to any prospective interested clubs. If, as I presume, some of the Luton players have this clause within their contract, then victory tonight would be more important in the League than the cup.
I admit we will lose players in January (see the Transfer Window exodus), however, the Sky money would obviously give us the chance to pay the players for the time being and then we can at least command a fee for the Bell's and Brill's of this club and those transfer fees can help pay the remaining players.
So, tonight may have recuperations way beyond the possibility of seeing Gerrard, Alonso, Crouch and Carragher back at Kenilworth Road.
Just one final thought, look at the prospective Hatters line up for tonight and compare that to the one that lost 5-3 less than two years ago:
Beresford, Foley, Coyne, Heikkenen, Underwood. (Carlos) Edwards, Robinson, Nicholls, Brkovic. Howard, Vine.
Rather tells its own story, doesn't it?