Boss Mick McCarthy says he’ll be sending his Town side out to win at Doncaster today and at Bournemouth on Sunday, but admits he’d be happy to take a point from both Christmas away games.
"If they want to send us one point each from Bournemouth and Doncaster, I won’t even bother going, I’ll stay at home for Christmas,” said McCarthy, who travelled to his native South Yorkshire with his squad last night.
"We’re going to go to try and win the games. We could win one, lose one, I’ve no idea. We want to win both games, but I can’t guarantee it, unfortunately.
"I’m very pragmatic, we’ll go and play, we’ll try and win the game, we’ll be positive in both of them.
"Doncaster are no mugs by any stretch of the imagination and Bournemouth have had some good results as well. We’ll see what we get.”
He expects both Rovers and the Cherries to be out for all three points: "I guess Doncaster and Bournemouth will be seeing them as winnable games, particularly with the fact that we have to travel.
"But we have to travel everywhere. Our nearest game is Bruges, I think, or Rotterdam. We should be in the Dutch or Belgian league.
"We are geographically challenged but that just is what it is and it doesn’t bother our lads. We come here and we just get on and travel. It’ll be the same on Christmas Day and it’ll be the same on the 29th. We just crack on with it.”
He says the Championship remains as keenly contested and unpredictable as ever: "Everybody in the league’s got it in them to beat somebody. I keep saying that the league really is bonkers.
"Even last year, when we were down at the bottom of the league all the time, we’d come off having had a great win and everybody else had had a great win as well. It is so close, so tight that anybody can beat anybody.
"What do I know about Doncaster? Loads. I watched them at Charlton live, I watched them twice on the DVD since.
"We watched them the other day against Derby and despite the fact that they were beaten 3-1, they had three great chances at one-all. They’re no mugs, they’re like everybody else in the league, they can beat anybody on a given day.”
McCarthy is a fan of Doncaster boss Paul Dickov, a man known as 'The Pest' during his playing days: "He did well at Oldham. I always liked Paul. I played against him, although not often, and he was a pest. I’m sure he had a name for me as well!
"I remember playing against him when he was with Arsenal’s reserves and I was the player-manager at Millwall. I like him, I always liked his attitude to the game.”
Doncaster’s on-loan Tottenham centre-half Bongani Khumalo might have been lining up for the Blues having been on trial at Portman Road in the summer.
McCarthy says the South African was close to joining Town: "I’d have signed him but for Christophe Berra becoming available. I’d have took him. I thought he did well here, I quite liked him.”
One man who won’t be in the Blues squad quite yet is Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who the Town boss won’t be rushing back into action, having been out with a broken leg and ankle ligament damage since April.
McCarthy says the former Wolves striker is unlikely to even be on the bench until the FA Cup tie at home to Preston on January 4th: "He won’t be involved. He’s just come back from a real long-term injury and the danger always is of microwave managing him and trying and get him fit in two weeks when that shouldn’t be the case.
"So we’ll make sure we’ll take our time. He’s training really well, he’s looking really sharp, but he’s not had that pre-season when he can get that toughness.
"If he’s fit on the fourth I’ll be delighted, if he’s fit before that to be on the bench, great, but I’m not thinking about that.”
McCarthy could well stick with the team which drew 1-1 with Watford on Saturday with Dean Gerken in goal, Luke Chambers wearing the armband at right-back, Aaron Cresswell on the left and Berra and Tommy Smith in the centre.
The Town boss seems happy with his 4-3-3 formation, a system Doncaster have also tended to employ, which is likely to mean Cole Skuse will play behind Luke Hyam and Ryan Tunnicliffe in midfield. Up front, top scorer David McGoldrick will be joined by Frank Nouble and Daryl Murphy.
Stephen Hunt will miss out on a place on the bench due to his hamstring problem but is expected to be back for the New Year’s Day game against Charlton, while Anthony Wordsworth may also be absent having been ill in recent days.
Wales U21 international right-back Elliott Hewitt is sidelined with an ankle injury but is likely to be fit enough to rejoin his loan club Gillingham next week.
Rovers boss Dickov is looking for an improvement at the back with his side having lost their last three games, conceding three goals each time: "We’ve just got to work at it. There’s no point in hammering them, especially the back four with so many young kids in there.
"We’ve got to help them and go over the goals by watching them and working on the training ground. Sometimes mistakes can go in your favour because you learn from them.”
Striker Chris Brown and defender Paul Quinn are both doubts with hamstring injuries, while one-time Town target James Coppinger (heel) and striker Billy Paynter (Achilles’) missed the defeat at Derby.
Rovers will be without defenders Jamie McCombe (back), Rob Jones (neck), ex-Blues loanee Reece Wabara (toe) and James Husband (shoulder), while midfielder Paul Keegan (hamstring) is not yet ready to return.
The teams last met on the final day of Rovers’ 2011/12 relegation campaign at the Keepmoat Stadium when first-half goals from Tommy Smith and Ryan Stevenson and a penalty after the break from Jason Scotland saw the Blues to a 3-2 win.
Smith headed in the opener, then Stevenson hammered in a brilliant second, prior to Fabien Robert pulling one back for the home side. In an understated second period, Scotland netted from the spot, then in injury time Habib Beye completed the scoring.
Back in November 2011 at Portman Road, second half goals from Josh Carson and Michael Chopra weren’t enough to stop the Blues from falling to a 3-2 defeat.
Dismal Town were very much second best before the break with El Hadji Diouf (2) and Billy Sharp putting the South Yorkshiremen 3-0 in front at half-time.
Historically, Town just about have the edge having won five games between the sides, four having been drawn and Doncaster having been victorious four times, one of those the only cup tie involving the clubs, Rovers’ 2-0 Carling Cup second round win at Belle Vue in September 2004.
In addition to ex-trialist Khumalo and former loanee Wabara, midfielder Richie Wellens spent time on loan with the Blues from Leicester last season.
Today’s referee is Tony Harrington from Cleveland, who has shown 35 yellow cards and four red in 14 games so far this season.
Harrington will be taking charge of only his third Championship game and his first involving the Blues.
Squad from: Gerken, Loach, Chambers, Veseli, Hammond, Cresswell, Mings, Smith, Berra, Skuse, Hyam, Tunnicliffe, Edwards, Anderson, Tabb, Graham, Murphy, McGoldrick, Nouble, Taylor.