Page 16 - Josh Carson News Today

Town Player of the Year Tommy Smith has extended his Blues’ contract until June 2016. The New Zealand international, 23, was previously tied down until the summer of 2014.

Luton Town manager John Still has confirmed that the League Two side expect to sign released Blues striker Jack Marriott later this week.

Midfielder Josh Carson has received his first call-up to the Northern Ireland senior squad. The 17-year-old has previously won caps at U17, U19 and U21 levels.

Town boss Mick McCarthy has revealed that he’ll make changes to his team for Saturday’s final game of the season at Burnley. The Blues secured their place in the Championship for the 2013/14 campaign by beating Birmingham 3-1 at Portman Road last weekend.

Town boss Paul Jewell says he’ll pick his Town side for tonight’s East Anglian derby against Norwich after training this morning having assessed the fitness of midfielder Grant Leadbitter, left-back Mark Kennedy and a couple of unnamed additional doubts. Leadbitter suffered a head injury at Bristol City on Saturday, while Kennedy missed the trip to Ashton Gate with a tight hamstring.

Striker Connor Wickham has reiterated his intention to be part of Towns promotion campaign next season despite all the speculation regarding summer bids by the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool. The 18-year-old recently signed a contract aimed at keeping him at Portman Road until 2014 or making sure the Blues achieve a very significant fee if the England U21 international does move on.

Town fell to their second disastrous East Anglian derby defeat of the season as Norwich left Portman Road having beaten the Blues by a convincing 5-1 scoreline. An Arran Lee-Barrett error led to Andrew Surman’s opener, then a Gareth McAuley own goal increased the Canaries’ lead. Simeon Jackson added Norwich’s third, Jimmy Bullard pulled one back but Russell Martin and Daniel Pacheco added the fourth and fifth late on.

Midfielders Luke Hyam and Lee Martin are both expected to miss Saturday’s home game against Millwall having picked up niggles in training. Better news for Blues boss Paul Jewell, who is considering including 16-year-old Byron Lawrence as a sub, is that Richard Wright doesn’t require an operation on his knee problem, while Jimmy Bullard was back in training this morning.

Town boss Mick McCarthy says he has no new injuries ahead of Saturday’s trip to Sheffield Wednesday, although midfielder Lee Martin will remain behind to work on his fitness.

Former Town midfielder Josh Carson scored what’s being hailed as the best own goal of all-time as his current side Coleraine drew 2-2 away against Glentoran at the Oval, Belfast in the Irish Premiership last night.