Town boss Mick McCarthy believes League Two Portsmouth’s players will go into tonight’s FA Cup third round replay at Fratton Park expecting to beat the Blues having performed so well in the first game at Portman Road, which ended 2-2. McCarthy is set to field a young side and, as he did at Manchester United in the Capital One Cup earlier in the season, could even switch his entire XI.
A victory at Portsmouth this evening would set up a fourth round home tie against Premier League AFC Bournemouth, which McCarthy says he would relish.
"It would be nice,” he said. "I’ve said to the lads, it’s a different set of circumstances, they came here and they were different class, Portsmouth. They passed the ball really well and we were fortunate to get a draw out of it.
"I’ll be honest, neither me nor [Pompey manager] Paul Cook wanted a draw out of it, they’re trying to get promoted, we’re trying to get promoted, and neither of us want it to be a distraction, but both of us want to win the game.
"But I guess it’s great for him now because they haven’t had a game for 10 days, so they’ve got a game before their league game on Saturday.
"But, as I said before, after 88 minutes I wanted a draw out of it. I didn’t want to lose. Strangely enough, we’re probably the underdog in the tie.
"Not as a club, we’re a Championship club, we’re seventh, and they’re in League Two and I’m not trying to play mind games because I don’t do that, I’m not bright enough and Cooky’s not daft enough to fall for it either.
"But they were excellent, they were better than us, they will expect to beat us, that’s my point.
"In terms of the mentality of the players, I think maybe we are an underdog in that, but not in terms of the club and what we’ve got, far from it.
"I know if I’d been them and I’d got us coming to their place, I’d fancy it and I’d think we were going to beat Ipswich. If I was a Portsmouth player I’d think we were going to slap them the way they played here.”
He says the Fratton Park atmosphere will be a stern test of the younger players who are in his side.
"It will, it’s a great place to go and play if you can handle it, so we’ll see,” he said. "It’ll be fantastic, the ones that handle it and revel in it and enjoy it will probably come through and be players for my team at some stage.
"If there are some that don’t and get cowed by it, shrink away from it, then that’s always going to be difficult for them. That doesn’t mean they won’t be players, but it’s the ones that enjoy it and relish it that will stand out.”
He says the more experienced pros will be able to help them through: "I certainly hope so. It’s up to us not to wilt and go and at it and be at full tilt and all guns blazing, whatever you want to say about it. And if we do we might find ourselves playing Bournemouth.”
Looking back to earlier in the season, he says his young players did well in the Capital One Cup tie at Old Trafford, despite falling to a 3-0 defeat.
"They did,” he reflected. "We want to win the game and it’s an opportunity for them to shine. If they’re all playing, let’s see what they do.
"It’s for one or two to step up and play well and give me, not so much a problem because they’re not going to play on Saturday as I know what team I’ll be playing, but give me a nice surprise where I think ‘Wow, that’s OK, I know he’ll be all right to step in’. And thinking further ahead for next season, what we do with players coming through and the team evolving.”
McCarthy says he has a lot of time for his Pompey counterpart Paul Cook: "I’ve known him a long time in terms of playing against my teams rather than managing against my teams.
"That’s the status I’m getting to now, I’m getting managers who’ve played against teams I’ve been managing rather than playing against me directly.
"I’ve been in touch with him at Chesterfield and about Clarkey, who is on loan with him. I knew him as a player, he was a really good footballing player, Cooky.
"He’s done really well at management, I thought he did great at Chesterfield and he’s doing wonderfully well with Portsmouth at the minute, and I’m glad for him because it’s a big club and if they get promoted they’ll be on the rise pretty quickly.”
He says everyone concerned will want to tie sorted inside 90 minutes rather than going to extra-time and penalties, although he dismissed the suggestion that FA Cup replays should be scrapped.
"Whoever’s going to win, let’s have it done in 90 minutes for everybody. If you get to extra-time and penalties and you win it you come away feeling good about it but if you do that and you lose on penalties and you lose it’s dreadful.
"I don’t think either one of us, me or Paul, or any of the fans, will want extra-time and penalties. Let’s have it decided. Let’s hope we play well enough and better than we did the last time.”
McCarthy says he’s played enough FA Cup football not to be shocked by Pompey’s excellent display at Portman Road.
"I wasn’t surprised, it’s the FA Cup,” he continued. "Oxford knocked Swansea out. I played for Barnsley and we had some great results against teams from above us.
"And then I played for Manchester City and we had some iffy results. I’ve managed Sunderland and Wolves playing teams below us and they’re always the hardest games and it’s even harder when you’re playing against a really good team like Portsmouth.”
He believes the Blues will be better prepared for Pompey this time around and hopes his side are a different prospect than they were in the first leg.
"I hope so, if ever you’re critical of your own team, it always seems you’re taking the credit away from the side that’s played well, and I didn’t want to do that with Portsmouth.
"They were excellent, they deserved to win the game, we were lucky to get the draw at the end, but we can play a helluva lot better.
"If they can play better, I’m going down there worrying, but we can play better than we did in the first leg.”
Second guessing McCarthy’s side is a difficult task but Bartosz Bialkowski is a certain starter in goal.
The Town boss seems likely to bring Josh Emmanuel into the side at right-back and Myles Kenlock at left-back.
Piotr Malarczyk also looks certain to start at the centre of the defence with on-loan Barnsley man Paul Digby perhaps handed his second appearance for the Blues alongside him. If not, Tommy Smith will probably start with Christophe Berra (shoulder) and skipper Luke Chambers (calf) not making the trip.
In what’s likely to be a four-man midfield matching Pompey’s system, Luke Hyam will start in the centre with Jay Tabb or Giles Coke options to start alongside him with Cole Skuse (hamstring), Jonathan Douglas and Kevin Bru all likely to be rested.
In the wide roles, Tommy Oar will be on the left with Ainsley Maitland-Niles probably on the right. Luke Varney and Brett Pitman would appear to be strong favourites to start up front.
The likes of defender Joe Robinson and midfielders Adam McDonnell and Shane McLoughlin have travelled and if they are included in the final 18 may make their debuts from the bench at some stage.
Pompey will be without midfielder Danny Hollands, who has broken his leg, while Matt Clarke, who is on loan from the Blues, is ineligible.
Christian Burgess will return to the Pompey defence after five weeks out with an ankle injury, but keeper Paul Jones is a long-time absentee having undergone knee surgery.
Pompey boss Cook says his players will have impressed the Blues during the first match.
"Championship players will be expected to beat League Two opposition and they probably weren’t at their best in the last meeting,” he told the Portsmouth official website.
"I’m sure we’ll have earned Ipswich’s respect and we might see a different animal, but our job is just to go out and do our best.
"If they come down and play their strongest side then we’ll definitely have our hands full, but then that’s probably the case with whoever’s in the team.
"It’s going to be difficult, but with the attraction of a fourth round tie at home to Bournemouth on offer, it’s something we want to achieve.”
At Portman Road 10 days ago, sub Ryan Fraser netted a late equaliser for the Blues when his freekick somewhat fortunately beat everyone to find the net in the 88th minute.
Tommy Oar had put the Blues in front in the 53rd minute prior to Kyle Bennett and Conor Chaplin hitting back on 55 and 86 to briefly give the League Two side the lead.
Prior to the game at Portman Road, the teams had met in the competition on two previous occasions, both within the last 10 years on Suffolk soil when Portsmouth were in the Premier League.
The Blues last played Pompey at the third round stage in 2007/08 when the visitors - who went on to carry off the trophy that season after beating Cardiff 1-0 in the final - won 1-0 via a David Nugent goal, Liam Trotter having been controversially sent off in the first half.
Pompey also visited Portman Road at the same point in the competition two years prior to that when a Dario Silva goal saw the Hampshire club to another 1-0 victory.
The teams most recently met in the Championship in the 2011/12 campaign when Town won both games 1-0, Keith Andrews netting the goal at home and Michael Chopra at Fratton Park.
Historically, the Blues have won 19 games between the two clubs (18 in the league, one in the League Cup), 12 have been draws (11 in the league) and Pompey have won 11 (nine in the league plus two FA Cup ties).
Portsmouth haven’t beaten Town at Fratton Park since a 4-2 win in October 1966, the Blues having made 15 visits since then, eight wins and seven draws.
Town striker Luke Varney was with Portsmouth between July 2011 and July 2012 and made 29 starts and two sub appearances, scoring twice.
Defender Matt Clarke is on loan at Fratton Park until the end of the season but the 19-year-old is ineligible against his parent club.
PORTSMOUTH (A) - Tickets will be available on the night from the Away Ticket Booth. Cash only and no price increase.– ITFC_PlanetBlue (@ITFC_PlanetBlue) January 18, 2016
The Pompey squad also includes ex-Blues Brian Murphy and Gary Roberts, while former academy striker Caolan Lavery has been recalled by parent club Sheffield Wednesday having been on loan at Fratton Park.
Portsmouth, whose weekend League Two game at Accrington was postponed, beat Macclesfield 2-1 at home in round one and Accrington 1-0 in the second round, also at Fratton Park.
If the Blues - who had sold 600 tickets for tonight's game yesterday - are successful tonight the fourth round tie at home to AFC Bournemouth will take place on the weekend of Saturday 30th January with the previously scheduled game against Reading at Portman Road pencilled in to move to the following Tuesday.
The same would be the case if Town are knocked out by Pompey but the Royals progress to round four by winning their replay at home to Huddersfield this evening.
Tonight’s referee is Andy Woolmer from Northamptonshire, who has shown 71 yellow cards and one red in 22 games so far this season.
Woolmer’s most recent Town game was the 2-1 win at Wigan in September 2014 in which he booked only Tyrone Mings and Christophe Berra.
Prior to that he was in charge of the 3-3 pre-season friendly draw at Notts County in July 2013 and the 3-0 home victory over Bristol City in March 2012 in which he booked three Town players and four Robins.
Squad from: Bialkowski, Gerken, Emmanuel, Kenlock, Hammond, Malarczyk, Digby, Smith, Robinson, Hyam, Douglas, Tabb, Coke, Bru, McDonnell, Maitland-Niles, Oar, Touré, McLoughlin, Fraser, Sears, Varney, Pitman, Murphy.