The Paul Cook era gets under way when the Blues travel to face Gillingham at the Priestfield Stadium at lunchtime on Saturday (KO 1pm).
New Blues boss Cook began work with his squad on Thursday, the players having been given Wednesday off after arriving back in Suffolk in the early hours following Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Accrington, a third victory on the trot which saw Town up to seventh in the League One table.
A win against the Gills will see the Blues up to fifth at least temporarily with Doncaster and Portsmouth ahead of them in action later on the day, at home to Rochdale and at Northampton respectively.
At his first press conference yesterday, Cook joked that he’d rather the Blues had lost at Accrington, a game he watched from the stands.
"I’d have preferred us to have got beat, it would have been a lot easier for me,” he joked.
"I think it's great for the support and it's great for Ipswich Town because the league table has changed a lot in a week and it just shows you what a strong week can do for you.”
Despite an inconsistent season, Cook takes over with the Blues in a surprisingly healthy position only two points off the play-offs and nine from second with just over a third of the season still to play.
"The target has to be automatic promotion at the minute,” he said. "If that’s not mathematically possible or is difficult to do, we’ll be in the [hunt for the] play-offs and will try and get in them.”
He added: "Everyone’s focused, without a doubt. I think the three wins in a week have given everybody a big lift because in football sometimes something can look so far away but if you win football games quickly and you put runs together, it can come a lot closer to you.
"The lads, the staff, everyone has given us a great chance of getting to the play-offs. There are 16 games to go, we’ve got to try our best to achieve that. And while there’s still a chance of the top two, we’ve got to focus on that as well.”
Cook says fans shouldn’t immediately expect to see a great deal of change in the way team plays.
"Going forward, there are different ways, there’s no right way and wrong way in football, and like every manager I have a certain way that I like stuff to be done,” he said.
"And that will be implemented at a slower pace because I feel that the players are doing great, they’re in a great place at the minute with winning the games, so there certainly won’t be a lot of change at the minute, that’s for sure.”
But he says with matches coming thick and fast, the extensive squad he has inherited will play its part.
"One of the benefits for us is the strength of our squad,” he said. "As the fans would imagine, when you’re winning games the reality is that there’s not a lot of change in the team but we do have those options.
"Other clubs wouldn’t be as fortunate as us because they don’t have the depth of squad. While we want to keep making hay while the sun’s shining, if you like, the reality is that if we have to change the team at some point we still have a depth of calibre of player to come in. The games are there for everyone, it’s a tough schedule.”
Cook has utilised a 4-2-3-1 system at his previous clubs, very much in line with the system the Blues have been using in recent weeks with the starting XI having been the same for the last four matches.
Tomas Holy will be in goal with the back four likely to remain unchanged with skipper Luke Chambers - who was praised by Cook at yesterday’s press conference for his performance at Accrington - at right-back, Myles Kenlock at left-back and Toto Nsiala and James Wilson the centre-halves.
In midfield, Cook may look at bringing Flynn Downes into the side if he feels either Andre Dozzell or Teddy Bishop need a rest but may opt to stick with the same pairing.
Alan Judge and Keanan Bennetts may well continue in the wide roles, although Gwion Edwards is an option having returned from his recent knock, with Troy Parrott behind lone out-and-out striker James Norwood.
Kayden Jackson could return to the bench, Cook having said that there is a clean slate for everyone. Jackson has been training with the U23s for the last couple of months along with Jon Nolan, who is sidelined for the next eight weeks having suffered a knee injury in training earlier in the week.
Gillingham boss Steve Evans, whose side is 14th, six points behind the Blues having beaten the MK Dons 3-2 on Tuesday, believes new Town manager Cook ought to be working in a higher division, and expects him to be doing so soon.
"My only surprise is that Paul Cook is not managing in the Championship,” he told Kent Online. "The job he did at Wigan was nothing short of sensational.
"When he left Wigan a few people like myself probably thought he was nailed on to be going to Bristol City, it didn’t happen, but he has gone to a giant and one thing that giant will be is in the Championship under Cooky. I never thought it would happen under where they have been in the last year or so.
"Paul Cook changes it for Ipswich Town. He will bring a real enthusiasm to a talented group of players. He knows what it takes to get a big club up.
"If you had a budget of the league table they would be in the top three and we would be in the bottom three, but games are won by finding a way and scoring more goals than the opposition and that is what we did on Tuesday.”
Manager Evans is hoping striker Vadaine Oliver and midfielder Kyle Dempsey will be OK to face the Blues despite having suffered knocks.
Historically, Town have the upper hand on the Gills, winning 12 games between the sides (eight in the league), drawing 11 (11) and losing just two (two).
The Gills, who have a home record of won seven, drawn two and lost eight, have been on an inconsistent run recently having won three and lost three of their last eight games.
At Portman Road in October, Teddy Bishop’s goal three minutes from time saw Town to a 1-0 victory.
The Blues had had plenty of chances in the first half, before the Gills improved after the break but Bishop’s fourth goal of the campaign claimed the points for Town.
The teams also met in the EFL Trophy at Portman Road earlier the same month when second-half goals from Armando Dobra and Ben Folami saw a very young Town side to a victory.
Dobra struck home from the edge of the box on 57, then Folami turned home the second after good work from Liam Gibbs with 15 minutes left as the Blues deservedly and in the end comfortably defeated the Gills.
In the league last season, the teams drew 0-0 at Portman Road on Boxing Day 2019, the Blues having won 1-0 at the Priestfield Stadium via a Kane Vincent-Young header three months earlier.
Blues keeper Holy joined the Blues from Gillingham in the summer of 2019 after the Czech had spent two years with the Kent club, for whom he made 107 appearances.
While Holy is the only man in the Town squad to have played for the Kent club, the Gills squad includes a couple of familiar names.
Former Blues loan striker Dominic Samuel made two starts and four sub appearances without scoring while at Portman Road between January and May 2017 when a Blackburn player. The Londoner joined the Gills on a free transfer in September.
Winger Jordan Graham signed for the Gills in the summer having spent two loan spells with Town, between November 2013 and January 2014 and August 2018 and January 2019, both while a Wolves player. In total Graham made three starts and three sub appearances across his two spells.
Gills midfielder Stuart O’Keefe, who moved to the Priestfield Stadium from Cardiff in the summer of 2019, was an academy schoolboy with Town.
Saturday’s referee is Graham Salisbury from Lancashire, who has shown 73 yellow cards and two red in 23 games so far this season.
Salisbury’s most recent Town match was the Leasing.com Trophy tie at Peterborough in December 2019 which the Blues won 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw. He booked Emyr Huws, Jordan Roberts, Tommy Smith and two home players.
Prior to that he was in charge of the 2-1 home victory over Nottingham Forest in April 2015 in which he booked only Paul Anderson.
Earlier that campaign he had been in charge of the 3-1 win at Millwall in which he kept his cards in his pocket throughout.
Squad from: Holy, Cornell, Matheson, Ward, Kenlock, Chambers (c), Wilson, Nsiala, McGuinness, Woolfenden, Dozzell, Downes, Judge, Huws, Harrop, Bishop, Edwards, Lankester, Thomas, Sears, Parrott, Norwood, Jackson, Drinan.