Manager Mick McCarthy admits it was tough to pick his team for tomorrow’s home game against Rotherham as the Blues look to stretch their winning run to four games.
After beating Millwall and Brighton at home, McCarthy made tactical changes for Monday’s 2-1 win at Wigan and it's inevitable that there will be players who can count themselves unfortunate not to be involved against the Millers.
The Town boss, who has a fully fit squad from which to pick his side, said: "It’s not easy to create an environment where players are happy to be left out. In fact you can’t, let’s clear that up. But you can get them to understand and accept, there’s a difference.
"If you win, that helps. If you don’t then they’ve got every reason to come chapping at my door. So, let’s hope we win, whatever decisions I make people will accept them.
"It’s about trust and being honest with them and telling them reasons why and not just sticking a teamsheet up and saying ‘Don’t be knocking on my door’.
"There are lots of ways of telling them and I tell them all on the morning when I’m doing training. It’s Friday today, so the ones who are playing know and the ones who aren’t equally know.
"In fact that’s more important to me, to tell the ones who aren’t playing, because the curly finger on a Friday morning and to be told you’re not playing isn’t the nicest thing to get.”
Midfielder Cole Skuse limped off towards the end at Wigan but McCarthy expects the former Bristol City man to be fine: "He’s got a bit of a sore toe but he’s been carrying that for a while, so I’m hoping he’ll be OK.
"Jay Tabb is all right [having missed the Wigan game due to flu], he trained today, he’s fine. Cameron Stewart had a game this morning with the U21s, they had an 11-a-side, so he’s had a bit of football.
"Alex Henshall got a kick the other day but he’s OK. Hunty’s trained fully with the first team, so he’s OK, so I think everybody’s fine.”
Dean Gerken will keep his place in goal and the Town manager is unlikely to make any changes to his defence with full-backs Tyrone Mings and Jonny Parr continuing on the left and right respectively and Christophe Berra and skipper Luke Chambers in the middle.
Mings and Berra will face one-match bans if they pick up another yellow card having already been booked four times this season.
Rotherham have tended to start 4-4-2, which may lead McCarthy to return to the XI he fielded for the Millwall and Brighton games, which would see Tabb and Paul Anderson return in the wide roles with Skuse and Teddy Bishop continuing in the centre.
If that's the case, David McGoldrick and Daryl Murphy would be up front with both Monday’s goalscorers, Luke Hyam and Conor Sammon, dropping to the bench.
Alternatively, McCarthy may feel that 18-year-old Bishop needs a rest with the Blues having three games in eight days and Hyam could keep his place.
The Blues boss warns that the 19th-placed Millers will be no soft touch: "We’ve just won three on the bounce, they’re a team who has come up with momentum, they’ve won back-to-back promotions.
"Their results have been a bit mixed but their performances have been pretty good. We saw them against Charlton. They changed their shape in the second half and they played really well and dominated that game and came back from one behind.
"So they’ve got a bit of spirit about them, but because we’ve won three on the bounce and suddenly it’s Rotherham at home the expectation is that we’ll win. Well, it doesn’t work like that, and that’s why I said it would be the hardest game.”
Town are yet to win four games in a row under McCarthy’s management. They last won four on the trot under Paul Jewell during January and February 2012 when West Ham were thrashed 5-1 at Portman Road and then Coventry and Portsmouth were beaten away and Cardiff were vanquished at home.
Millers boss Steve Evans, whose side are without a win in their last five games in all competitions, says he was impressed with Town at Wigan: "Ipswich were excellent on Monday night, nothing you wouldn't expect from Mick and Terry. They'll be tough.
"I have a lot of respect for Mick and the Ipswich fans are in for some exciting times with him in charge.”
The former Boston boss says his side are settling into life in the Championship: "We said it would take 12-15 games to prove themselves at this level and we're starting to see that now.”
In addition to on-loan Town pair Paul Taylor and Anthony Wordsworth, who are ineligible, Rotherham skipper Craig Morgan is suspended having amassed five bookings, but striker Alex Revell is over a dead leg.
Central defender Kari Arnason has a knock and is a doubt, as is midfielder Richie Smallwood, who has a hamstring problem.
Long-term absentees are centre-half Richard Wood (knee) and midfielders Rob Milsom (ankle), Conor Newton (hernia) and Mark Bradley (knee).
The sides last met at Portman Road in April 2005 when the Blues went back to second in the Championship after defeating the already relegated Millers 4-3 with Darren Bent scoring twice and Ian Westlake and Jim Magilton one each.
The scoreline ought to have been far more emphatic - the Blues were 4-1 up with 23 minutes remaining - but complacent defending gifted the Millers three goals with Tony Thorpe, Martin Butler and Martin McIntosh on the scoresheet for the visitors.
In the previous August at the Millers’ former home Millmoor, two Shefki Kuqi goals either side of half-time gave the Blues their first away win of the 2004/05 season.
The home side rarely threatened as Town cantered to third place in the Championship table.
Overall, the Blues have won 12 of the previous games between the sides, all of which have been in the league, seven have ended in draws, with the Millers having won five.
The Rotherham squad currently includes the unavailable Taylor and Wordsworth as well as former Blues keeper Scott Loach and ex-loanees Frazer Richardson and Paul Green.
No member of the current Town squad has played for the Millers, but academy coach Alan Lee had a successful spell with the South Yorkshiremen between 2000 and 2003 and fitness coach Andy Liddell was briefly a player and caretaker-manager there late in his career.
Fans travelling to the game by train from the direction of London should note there are service alterations due to maintenance work.
Saturday’s referee is Lee Collins from Surrey, who has shown 21 yellow cards and no red in six games so far this season. Collins, who has previously refereed only five matches at Championship level, will in charge of his first fixture involving the Blues.
Squad from: Gerken, Bialkowski, Parr, Hewitt, Mings, Berra, Chambers, Smith, Skuse, Bishop, Hyam, Anderson, Tabb, Henshall, Hunt, Ambrose, Bru, Stewart, McGoldrick, Murphy, Sammon, Bajner.