The Tractor Boys go into this first round cup game on the back of a 4-2 victory over fellow Championship side Barnsley, looking to build on their strong start to the season

Preview

Sitting pretty in third in the league going into this EFL Cup game, spirits are high going into this game against League Two side Stevenage, although we know how Mick likes to change his starting XI around for cup games.

Stevenage come into this game of the back of a 2-1 defeat to recently relegated Crewe Alexandra, looking to rectify their mistakes and stake their claim against tough Championship opposition

Dangerous Threat

Jobi McAnuff

Thirty-four-year-old Jobi McAnuff signed for League Two side Stevenage having been released by Leyton Orient at the end of last season.

Value-wise he is their strongest player and with his wealth of experience in both the Premier League and the Championship with Reading, Watford and Crystal Palace respectively, he certainly knows how to go up against the bigger teams.

Against Crewe he played out on the left wing and, whilst he supplied a few good crosses and looked a threat up against Oliver Turton, he eventually struggled near the later stages of the game with his age catching up with him.

Charlie Lee

Twenty-nine-year-old Charlie Lee arrived at Stevenage in the summer of 2014 from League One Gillingham. He scored their only goal of the game against Crewe and, despite playing out of his favoured position at right midfield, he was still able to pick up a 90th minute goal, showing his desire to play until the final whistle.

Lee has played in the Championship before with Peterborough, so he knows how to hang with the boys from the Championship, but whether or not he can still play like he used to is still to be decided.

Weakest Link

When looking at Stevenage’s weakest position, I would consider their left full-back as being the main area to be exploited. The signing of Andrew Fox from Peterborough has bolstered their backline, but the season beforehand he was shipped out on loan to non-league Kidderminster, so stepping up to playing a Championship side might not suit him too kindly.

His back-up, Ryan Johnson, is only 19 years of age and has played only 12 games in his career to date. Against Crewe they played Fraser Franks at left-back and both of Crewe’s goals came from the right side of the field, most notably when Alex Kiwomya came on at right midfield, and was directly up against Franks.

Predicted Formation – Stevenage

Predicting a team for cup game is always going to be difficult, but with a tough game away at Notts County up next for Stevenage, I can see manager Darren Sarll resting a few key players, but sticking close to his original line-up. I’ve predicted that four of the players that started against Crewe to keep their place on Tuesday, with the manager looking forward to Saturday.

Predicted Formation – Ipswich

As we all know, Mick likes to ring the changes for a cup game, so I’ve predicted that he will make 10 changes to the starting XI, with Freddie Sears the only playing keeping his place. With Mick looking towards the game against Brentford at the weekend, he will add some young players to the bench, as well as some experienced heads depending on the result.

Overall Summary

This will be an interesting match to view as the number of changes expected by both sides will cause it to be a rather stop-start kind of game, but I can see the boys making it through to the next round.

Exploiting the left full-back position should be our main aim for the game, so if Andre Dozzell, Cameron Stewart, Grant Ward or anyone is playing at right wing, we should try and get the ball to them throughout the game as they could provide the goods for the boys.

Make sure to let me know down below in the comments how you think the game will pan out and who you think will get the nod for Tuesday night.

COYB

JimmyJazz added 22:52 - Aug 7 Switch Ward for Stewart - to further build up his fitness - and i think you've got the right starting XI
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shortmarine1969 added 00:56 - Aug 8 Hyam instead of Douglas , who i hope i will have no need to see in a town shirt again.!..where as Hyam has years left however limited he is
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MattinLondon added 12:34 - Aug 8 Maybe McDonnel in for Grant and Hyam for Douglas
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BlueandTruesince82 added 18:20 - Aug 9 Pitman's injured and we know that a strong team is being put out. Das is Das.
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