Also included is 16 year old left back Chris Cohen, and Scottish U21 midfielder David Noble.
David Connolly, Richard Garcia, Neil Mellor, and Robbie Stockdale are all, as expected, ruled out while of course Steve Lomas and Rufus Brevett are still continuing their rehab.
Looking at the opposition, Alan says:
"I think they are a big, physical, aggressive, side and like all first division teams they don't give you much space.
"They play wing backs, know the system - which is important - and you can't get away from the fact that they are a strong side.
"They are coming here as favourites to get promoted but there are also areas where they are not so good and that is what we want to exploit.
"I feel it is going to be a cracking game with two contrasting styles and I would like to think that hopefully with a wee bit of luck and the right commitment from the players we will get the result we want."
Alan says the fans will have a big part to play and he explains:
"That is the one major advantage we have over everybody in this league, to some extent; only a few clubs have the atmosphere we can create.
"There are a lot of games coming up at the Boleyn and they keep turning up en masse - it gives us a massive advantage.
"The squad needs strengthening and I am keeping an eye on that."
SQUAD: James, Bywater, Lee, Repka, Dailly, Pearce, Hutchison, Kilgallon, Carrick, Defoe, Mullins, Etherington, Quinn, Byrne, Ferdinand, Horlock, Sofiane, Deane, Cohen, Noble.