Jewell eyes Arsenal scalp

Paul Jewell has urged his Ipswich side to “pull off a huge upset” by seeing off Arsenal in tonight’s Carling Cup semi-final.

Town go into the second leg at the Emirates 1-0 up thanks to Tamas Priskin’s goal at Portman Road a fortnight ago and have the chance to book their first visit to the new Wembley.

Jewell knocked out the Gunners at the same stage of the competition five years ago en route to guiding his Wigan side to the final and could be responsible for an even bigger shock this time around.

Arsene Wenger’s side have not won a trophy since 2005 and last won the League Cup in 1993.

But the Barclays Premier League outfit have looked ominously back to their best in the last 10 days to leave Jewell in no doubt that his side are up against it.

He said: “We’ve got to respect them, they’re a great team, they’ve got great players, a great manager, it’s a great club.

“But it’s 11 against 11 and we’ve got to see if we can pull off a huge upset.”

The build-up to kick-off has been disrupted for Jewell as he fights to keep hold of captain David Norris amid interest from npower championship rivals Portsmouth.

Norris is one of 21 players out of contract in the summer – a situation Jewell was not happy to inherit but must resolve.

He said: “I’m a little bit disappointed with that, I’ve spoken to Portsmouth boss Steve Cotterill a couple of times about different things and I think things like that should be dealt with in private and if something happens then he can talk.

“The two lads who are in question at the moment, David Norris and Gareth McAuley, I’ll be sitting down with them later in the week and seeing what we want to do. I’m not in any rush, I’m not under any pressure to move people out and you want to keep your better players here.

“But, if players want to leave, whoever they are, from the youngest player to the most experienced, if they don’t want to be here and things are right for us, they can move.”