The team with the best home record in League One hosts the side with the best away form when table-topping Town visit Plymouth Argyle for Sunday’s live Sky game.

The Blues won their first four away matches at the start of a season for the first time in their history before last week’s 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

At Home Park this season, the Pilgrims, who are third in the table, three points behind the Blues, have won all four of their League One matches without conceding, although they were defeated 2-0 by Peterborough in the Carabao Cup and were held to a 1-1 draw by Bristol Rovers in the Papa Johns Trophy before winning 4-3 on penalties.

Argyle last conceded at home in the league on the final day of last season when they were thrashed 5-0 by the MK Dons.

The Pilgrims have been beaten in League One twice this season, both away from home, at Peterborough, 2-0, and Charlton, 5-1.

Town manager Kieran McKenna says Steven Schumacher’s side have built on last season’s seventh-place finish when they amassed 80 points.

“They’ve been very impressive,” McKenna said. “They were very impressive at the back end of last season, the second half of the season and were unlucky given their points total not to be in the play-offs because I think in any other season they would have been.

“They were unlucky to just miss out but it’s not affected them in any way, they’ve evolved the squad again this year, made some good additions personnel-wise, they’ve evolved their systems a little bit, they’ve got a little bit more variation now in how they play.

“Steve’s continued his good work since he’s been in that role and has continued to improve the team and it’s no surprise that they’ve got such a good home a record and have had such a good start because they’re a well-balanced and well-coached team across all phases and they have good players in their squad to boot.”

Argyle have coped with losing midfielder Panutche Camara to Town and striker Luke Jephcott, who joined Swindon on loan.

“I think they’re a club who have a clear model of playing, I think that always helps, for one. And that’s where we want to be as well,” McKenna continued.

“I think if you have a clear model of play and you know the requirements for each position then it’s a lot easier to make additions where players can slot into the team and fit into what you do very well.

“I think Plymouth have been pretty consistent over the last few years with Steven and with Ryan Lowe before that in terms of the system and the style of play.

“And when you have that, it enables them to make smarter additions to the group and I think they’ve managed to that this year.”

Town will face another vociferous opposition crowd at Home Park but McKenna feels the display in front of the larger Hillsborough support last week, when the Blues came within a minute or so of claiming all three points, will give his team belief.

“I think it should give us confidence overall because it’s a very difficult place to go to and we were happy with the performance and felt that we were good value for three points. But, of course, a point is not a bad result either,” he said.

“I think this is a different type of game, a different type of team. Tactically, a different setting completely, really in terms of the feel of it.

“So I think we have to respect this game individually as we do every one. What we did last week and what we did on Tuesday night [against Arsenal’s U21s] isn't going to bear too many regards on this one.

“Plymouth are a very good team who we have to respect and their home record alone would suggest we are going to have to be at or very, very close to our best to get a result out of this game, and that's what we have to focus on.”

McKenna’s big decision ahead of the game is who will replace Wes Burns in the wide right role with the Welshman away with his national squad.

Candidates for the position include Kane Vincent-Young, Kayden Jackson and Kyle Edwards.

“We’ve just followed our normal process,” McKenna said. “We look at every game in isolation to a certain respect in terms of who the right personnel is going to be for any given game and see what we want to do, the areas of the opposition that we want to expose and also, of course, who has been training and playing well for us.

“We have quite a few different people who can play in that position and they all bring different qualities and different profiles to the position.

“So a big part of the decision will be how we decide to go game plan-wise and what we want, what the criteria and what the skillset we want from that position is and what’s going to give us the best chance to win the game.

“The players all understand that process and, of course, it’s a chance for somebody to come into the team and play minutes in that position that Wes has played in most commonly for us.

“But other people have done it and over the course of the season there are going to be other times and other periods where that position is changed round and this is just one of those games.”

He added: “We’ll try and make the jobs as clear as we can and the different roles and however we decide to play as clear as we can, like we always do.

“Plymouth are a team which has evolved a little bit in terms of having changed their system a little bit this year and they have also changed their system within games quite a bit and changed shape in the latter stages of a lot of their league games.

“So we need to be ready. The players, of course, need to understand their roles in the different phases of the game but also be ready that will probably change at some stage in the game, and we can't be caught cold.

“In the Plymouth versus Portsmouth game last week [at Fratton Park, which ended 2-2], Portsmouth were on a really good performance and a good result, but a change of shape and some different pictures on the pitch and very quickly, they went from 1-0 to 2-1 down.

“So it's a good challenge and it's one we're looking forward to. There are lots that we need to be ready for and within all that, we need to still focus on ourselves and believe in our quality, and if we go and deliver what we can, we'll give them lots of problems as well.”

Striker Freddie Ladapo netted his second goal of the season in the closing minutes of Tuesday’s Papa Johns Trophy tie with Arsenal, which the Blues won 2-0, having had a tough evening in front of goal up to that point.

“It was nice for him,” McKenna said. “Of course, all the forwards want to score and are happier when they can score.

“It's important that they are getting chances and his all-around game on Tuesday night enabled him to get a lot of chances because he did a lot of things well.

“It didn't quite go his way in front of goal but that's what you have to do as a striker.

“You have to keep making the right runs, getting in the right positions and trust your instincts that you've had over your career.

“And it was pleasing for him to get the goal at the end and he's in good spirits and looking forward to the weekend.”

The former Plymouth man is still looking to open his League One account with Town with Saturday’s game against his old club would be an ideal opportunity.

“Of course,” McKenna continued. “It's a top-of-the-table clash with a big crowd and a good moment for us, so I'm sure all the players will be up for it, and the motivation will be really high.

“But there always is that little extra edge when it's against one of your former teams, so I'm sure that will add a little bit to the game for him.”

McKenna says Home Park will be a new stadium for him: “I haven't been yet, so I'm looking forward to it. The players who have I spoken to this week have said it's a really good atmosphere down there and the crowd get right behind the home team.

“So I'm looking forward to going there and looking forward to that challenge. But the message, of course, will always be that when it comes to the game what matters on the pitch, what counts is keeping our focus and concentration on doing our jobs for the 90 minutes.

“And what the home crowd decide to offer in terms of their backing is not something we can control, and we'll go and focus on our performance.”

Have the usual preparations for the game been affected by the lunchtime kick-off? “We try and keep things as consistent as possible, which of course, with the regularity of the three o'clock Saturday kick-offs, is a lot easier at this level than what I've been used to, so that's been positive.

“This week is not that case and the Sunday, 12.30pm kick-off and the very high mileage of the game are three things that we have had to take into consideration.

“So we've adapted the training time a little bit, but tried to keep the general flow of our work and preparation as consistent as we have done.

“We've just moved a lot of it earlier on in the week so that come Saturday we can focus on getting the travel out of the way and getting to the hotel as early and as smoothly as we can so that we're rested up come kick-off on Sunday.”

While the squad will be travelling on their coach on Saturday, around 90 fans will be leaving Suffolk at 3.30am in order to make kick-off, the club having reimbursed their travel costs as a goodwill gesture.

“It means a lot,” McKenna said regarding the 1,000-plus support expected in Devon. “It’s fantastic, it gives us great encouragement, we know it’s a massive journey, a big sacrifice to give up so much time, so much money for those who are on trains and driving.

“It’s an incredible support that we get, so we really appreciate it and I can assure you that we’ll do everything that we can in our power to give the fans a good performance that they can be proud of and a good result to enjoy on the journey home.

“No guarantees, of course, and we want a positive result for ourselves to take on the bus back with us, but I think more importantly, if we could do that for the people who are supporting us, that will feel even better.”

Christian Walton will be in goal making his 200th career league appearance against his local club with whom he started his career and spent a spell on loan.

Janoi Donacien will be on the right of the defence with Luke Woolfenden and George Edmundson to his left.

Leif Davis will be the left wing-back with Jackson perhaps the man to get the nod on the right as he did when Burns was unavailable due to injury at Forest Green Rovers earlier in the season.

Skipper Sam Morsy and Lee Evans will be the central midfielders with Marcus Harness and Conor Chaplin the number 10s. McKenna has decisions to make about his lone central striker but could again opt for Tyreece John-Jules.

Town's usually plentiful options from the bench have been reduced by injury with Greg Leigh out for some months with a compression fracture to his leg with Sone Aluko (knee) also still sidelined.

Striker Gassan Ahadme is a doubt having missed training due to illness this week.

Pilgrims boss Schumacher says he has been pleased with the way his players have coped with what he felt was a tough start to the season with Sunday’s visit by the Blues the teams’ tenth League One fixture of campaign.

“When the fixtures came out, I looked at the first ten games and thought: ‘Oh my God. Wow. That’s going to be hard.’ Credit to the players who have risen to the challenge every single week,” he told Argyle TV.

“We have played some big teams, put in some big performances and picked up some good results. We are deservedly third in the league at the moment.

“We have the opportunity, if we win on Sunday, to go top. For us to be doing that after ten games is a brilliant achievement, and hopefully we can get the win.”

Regarding Town, Schumacher added: “Ipswich have, in my opinion, the strongest squad in the league, closely matched by Sheffield Wednesday. It’s going to be a great game and hopefully one we enjoy.

“They are good in all departments. They are first in the league in possession, first in forward passes into the opposition box — and top of the table for points.

“All the squads we come up against have got good players. If we stand off and respect them too much they will hurt us. We need to do what we’ve been good at: try to be aggressive with our press, try to win the ball back and cause them a few problems when we’ve got the ball.

“We know the strengths they have got but we are not fearful of Ipswich. We’ve shown we can be a match for anyone if we are at it.

“The message to the players will be that these are top of the league and deservedly so, but we can’t be fearful of them.

“Let’s give it our best, play with the energy we need and show some quality as well. If we can be the first to take their scalp and with it go top of the league — what more motivation do you need?”

One-time Town loanee Conor Grant is not yet ready to return after groin surgery, while defender James Bolton (foot) and wing-back Mickel Miller (thigh) also remain sidelined

On-loan Aston Villa midfielder Finn Azaz is away on international duty with the Republic of Ireland U21s squad and defender Brendan Galloway is suspended having been sent off in the latter stages of the draw at Portsmouth.

The Blues thought they had finally vanquished their Sky hoodoo when they beat Wigan 2-0 on the opening day of the 2020/21 League One season, ending a run of 16 matches without a win in front of Sky's cameras going back to December 2015.

However, since then they have lost all three of their matches screened live by the satellite broadcaster.

Town have had the edge over Argyle in games between the sides over the years, winning 22 games (21 in the league), losing 12 (12) and drawing 15 (15).

The teams last met at Portman Road in March when Sam Morsy’s 37th-minute goal saw Town to a 1-0 victory.

Morsy turned in James Norwood’s pass and Town ought to have won more comfortably against the fourth-placed Pilgrims, who had won their previous six matches without conceding.

In October last year, goals either side of the break from Luke Jephcott and ex-Town loanee Conor Grant saw then-League One leaders Plymouth come from behind to beat the Blues 2-1 at Home Park.

George Edmundson gave Town the lead in the 14th minute but Jephcott levelled a minute before the break and Grant added the second five minutes after the restart, while the Blues missed a number of chances to get back on terms in the latter stages.

Pilgrims centre-half James Wilson was with the Blues between August 2019 and May 2021. The Wales international made 47 starts and two sub appearances for Town, scoring twice, and was named the supporters Player of the Year in 2020/21.

Plymouth midfielder Grant spent three months on loan with the Blues when an Everton player early in 2016/17, making four starts and three sub appearances. He moved to Home Park in July 2018 on a free transfer.

Pilgrims winger Danny Mayor joined the Devon club from Bury in July 2019 having held talks at Portman Road with regard to a move to Town.

Blues keeper Walton started his career with Plymouth, joining their youth system aged 10 and was an unused sub for a first-team game when 16 without making it onto the field before moving on to Brighton's academy.

He later returned for a loan spell during the first half of 2015/16 when he made four appearances.

Camara, who is working on his fitness following his groin injury, spent two years with the Pilgrims before joining the Blues at the start of this month, making 82 starts and 13 sub appearances, scoring 10 goals.

Striker Ladapo was with Argyle during the 2018/19 season, scoring 19 times in 46 starts and three sub appearances and securing a £500,000 move to Rotherham.

Town keeper-coach Rene Gilmartin had a spell with the Pilgrims when Walton was at Home Park, making 16 appearances during 2012/13.

Sunday’s referee is Scott Oldham from Poulton-le-Fylde who has shown 21 yellow cards and no red in eight games so far this season.

Oldham’s last Town match was the 0-0 draw at Oxford last November in which he booked Morsy, Bailey Clements and one member of the home side.

Prior to that, he was in charge of the 4-1 defeat at Doncaster in October 2020 in which he awarded Rovers a penalty after Toto Nsiala felled Josh Sims. He also yellow-carded the centre-half as well as then-Blues defender Wilson and Andre Dozzell.

Oldham also refereed the 1-0 home defeat to Oxford in February 2020 in which he red-carded Jackson for a stamp on visitors’ defender Rob Dickie in the final minute and booked Luke Woolfenden, Luke Garbutt and one U’s player.

Before that he was in charge of the 1-0 win at Rochdale in November 2019 in which he yellow-carded only Norwood.

Squad from: Walton, Hladky, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Keogh, Vincent-Young, Davis, Morsy (c), Evans, Ball, Harness, Edwards, Humphreys, Chaplin, John-Jules, Ladapo, Jackson, Ahadme.

Photo: TWTD

ArnieM added 20:09 - Sep 23 I think we can win this one. But it won't be an easy task by any means. I'd go with KVY to replace Burns because he has both defensive and attacking capabilities and an end product in crossing.
4

IpswichT62OldBoy added 20:25 - Sep 23 I have just found out, Lynn Truss is a Narch fan. Explains a lot.
1

Cakeman added 22:35 - Sep 23 I'm really impressed by pretty much everything at Portman Road these days but I wish our manager would stop bigging up every team we play. Respect them sure but just believe and say we can beat anyone from division one that we face.
0

chepstowblue added 09:50 - Sep 24 I didn't take any encouragement from the Sheffield performance. We buckled under pressure....the first pressure we've been under all season, and we certainly didn't play well. Barnsley comfortably hold out at Hillsborough.....we also should have been able to. That would have been a real statement. It has me doubting whether we've got the tools required. The likelihood is well be somewhere close this season, but as yet I'm not totally convinced that it'll be as comfortable as many expect.

4

Nobbysnuts added 10:22 - Sep 24 Totally agree with you cakeman
0

Linkboy13 added 10:39 - Sep 24 Yes agree chepstowblue ive said many times on here we are a very good team going forward but not so good without the ball and not the sort of team that can sit back and absorb pressure. Last week was our first tough test and we panicked a bit. Im surprised Dominic Ball wasn't brought on to give us stability and a calming influence in midfield but McKenna works with these players on a day to day basis and must think he's not up to the job yet.

2

blueboy1981 added 22:55 - Sep 24 I agree, we should not keep ‘bigging' teams up that we play each week - this is Division 3 not Premiership, or even Championship, and these are often ‘minnows' in terms of Club size and Status, compared to Ipswich Town Football Club. These are Teams we have to BEAT to finally remove ourselves from this awful (often crunching, and often poorly Refereed, standard of the game) - and not see opposing teams as anything more than what they actually are. We should EXPECT to beat Plymouth, and be extremely disappointed, if we do not - not make excuses for ‘how good they are or were' … !! On another note - Who said Norwood wouldn't Score Goals …. if played to his strengths ??? - maybe Ladapo should go on loan to Barnsley so he / they can prove he can do so too … !! Just saying !!

-2

Nomore4 added 08:52 - Sep 25 Yeh Norwood scored 3 so far……hardly prolific. Just saying
1

Ebantiass added 11:49 - Sep 25 Come on you blues lets stamp our play on them and the game.
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls