Town boss Paul Jewell will be looking for his side to bounce back from what he admits has been his toughest week with the Blues when Leeds United visit Portman Road on Saturday. The Town manager hopes that the signings of Jimmy Bullard, Ibrahima Sonko and Daryl Murphy will help his team to react after last Saturday’s 7-1 defeat at Peterborough United.
Jewell said: "It’s been the toughest time since I’ve been here. Saturday was an unbelievably tough day, it was a tough weekend.
"Sunday and Monday weren’t great but you’ve got to get over it. You can have a couple of days mourning, if that’s the right word. But you can’t let the hangover affect the game the next Saturday.
"Ever since the game finished we have to look forward to Saturday. It’s so important that we try and cut out the silly errors that we’re getting punished for that I spoke about after the Southampton game and I’m speaking about now after the Peterborough game.”
The Blues boss says a brief nightmare spell led to Town’s spectacular downfall at London Road: "When you analyse the game, it was three and a half minutes of complete madness. We were 1-0 up, then 1-1 and in three and a half minutes we [ended up 4-1 down and] had one sent off.
"Two of their goals were offside, I spoke to the referee’s assessor, who admits that, and that the penalty was two yards outside the box.
"I don’t think many managers have been in the situation where they’re 6-1 down with 54 minutes gone and they’ve got to try and keep it down to single figures. It was a horrible day for myself, the staff, the fans and the players.
"We’re not blaming referees, it’s down to ourselves. We haven’t had much luck but I think we’ve got to start believing in ourselves and we’ve got to be tougher to play against. Hopefully the signings we’ve made will make an improvement.”
Jewell watched Leeds draw 2-2 at Upton Park last week and thought they played well: "I was very impressed with them against West Ham. I thought they were very unlucky not to take all three points.
"They’ve got a bit of pace in the wide areas and like every game in this league, it’ll be tough.”
The Blues boss is without Lee Martin (three-match ban) and Tommy Smith (one) after their red cards at Peterborough, while Lee Bowyer is unlikely to face his old club due to a hamstring problem which Jewell is loath to risk.
Central defender Ãvar Ingimarsson is still sidelined with his thigh strain and striker Tamás Priskin has suffered a recurrence of his knee problem.
David Stockdale is set to continue in goal, the on-loan Fulham man having been Town’s man of the match at London Road despite the deluge of goals.
Carlos Edwards looks likely to stay at right-back with Aaron Cresswell on the left. Ibrahima Sonko will come in for his Town debut at centre-half alongside Damien Delaney.
Rumours have been circulating that Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been training in the central defensive role he often occupied as a youngster at Arsenal, however, if true this seems unlikely to be anything more than a contingency with the Blues still short of cover in that area of the squad.
Jewell seems certain to switch back to his five-man midfield in order to end the run of heavy defeats. Despite not playing a game since the Preston match at the end of last season, Jimmy Bullard looks likely to come into the central midfield three with skipper Grant Leadbitter and Keith Andrews also in the middle. If Bullard isn't considered ready, Mark Kennedy will start in the deeper role.
New loanee from Celtic Daryl Murphy could well make his second Town debut in one of the wide roles, perhaps his less-favoured right side, with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas on the left and Michael Chopra up front.
Leeds boss Simon Grayson, who was once signed on loan by Paul Jewell during his time as Bradford manager, says the Blues have one of the strongest groups of players in the Championship, more so after this week’s additions: "If you look at their squad on paper they have got one of the best squads in the division, coupled with them signing Bullard and Murphy and what they've already got.
"Paul is going to be bitterly disappointed about the last few games, but that's the nature of the Championship. We know they could come out fighting because that is what Paul Jewell is all about, that's what he will be telling his players because I would."
Grayson is looking for his squad to begin matches more on the front foot: "We need to start games better to give ourselves a better opportunity to win them.
"We can't keep conceding goals so early on because you give yourself a mountain to climb. But all credit to the players as every time they have done that they have shown resilience and a fantastic attitude to get back into the game."
The Whites, who are in 13th in the league having won one, drawn one and lost two, went through 2-1 at Doncaster Rovers in the Carling Cup in midweek with Honduran winger or second striker Ramon Nunez netting his fourth and fifth goals of the season, although only one of those has come in the league.
Grayson says he’s considering whether Nunez has done enough to win himself a place in his Championship starting line-up: "I'm still undecided on what to do ahead of the weekend.
"Ramon keeps producing good performances but the competition is tough at the minute. It's up to the players who are not in the team to try and get a place and ultimately it's down to the players in the team to stay in the team.
"If someone doesn't catch your eye in training then they have no chance of being picked. If you underachieve, you are out of the team."
Striker Billy Paynter is likely to be back after a thigh strain, while Luciano Becchio is still recovering after a hamstring injury. Another forward, Davide Somma, is currently sidelined after knee surgery.
Veteran midfielder Michael Brown has a calf problem, while defenders Tom Lees and Aidan White are expected to get over minor knocks.
Historically, Leeds have the superior record in the fixture, winning 26 (25 in the league) clashes between the teams, Town have been victorious on 22 (17) occasions and with 19 (16) games ending in draws.
In March, Town recorded only their second 0-0 draw of the 2010/11 season as they left Elland Road with a deserved point.
Both sides could have been in front at the break after an end-to-end first period, Tamás Priskin and Lee Martin missing the Blues’ best opportunities. In the second half Town rarely threatened but their backline held firm.
Goals from Jason Scotland and Tommy Smith saw the Blues to a 2-1 victory over 10-man Leeds at Portman Road earlier in the season, ex-Blue Alex Bruce having seen red for fouls on Town loanee Andros Townsend.
Bruce joined the Whites from Town last summer and former Blues loanee Darren O’Dea moved to Elland Road from Celtic during this close season, while Lee Bowyer was with Leeds 1996 and 2003, making 257 starts and eight sub appearances, scoring 55 goals.
Keeper David Stockdale is from Leeds, supported his hometown club as a boy and came close to joining them in the summer prior to signing for the Blues on loan. Bowyer and Keith Andrews were also players wanted by Simon Grayson this summer. New Town fitness coach Andy Liddell is also from Leeds and is a supporter of the club.
Portman Road will be inaccessible to home fans for a short time after the game with the police calling on supporters of both clubs to behave respectfully and responsibly.
Fans should also note that there will be no trains from Ipswich to Stowmarket after 6pm with buses replacing the services to Diss and Norwich.
Town’s matchday programme is now available online for various platforms in addition to the printed version.
Saturday’s referee is fans’ favourite Andy D’Urso from Billericay, who has shown 20 yellow cards and no reds in six games so far this season.
The Billericay-based official’s most recent Blues match was the 7-0 FA Cup hammering at Chelsea in January, while he also took charge of the 3-1 home defeat to Swansea earlier in 2010/11 in which he failed to award Town a penalty when Carlos Edwards was blatantly brought down inside the area.
Squad from: Stockdale, Lee-Barrett, Edwards, Cresswell, Sonko, Delaney, Ainsley, Kennedy, Leadbitter, Bullard, Andrews, Murphy, Emmanuel-Thomas, Carson, Healy, Drury, Chopra, Scotland, Ellington.