Town visit Oldham’s Boundary Park for Tuesday’s FA Cup first-round replay with a home tie against League Two Barrow awaiting the winners.
The first staging of the game at Portman Road earlier this month saw Town's long wait for a home FA Cup win continue after the sides played out a 1-1 draw.
Wes Burns gave the Blues the lead on eight but Davis Keillor-Dunn equalised for Oldham four minutes prior to half-time, before Dylan Bahamboula saw a second-half penalty saved by Christian Walton as Town, who last won an FA Cup tie at Portman Road in January 2009, laboured against the League Two strugglers.
Since then, Oldham have lost 3-2 at Tranmere in the Papa John’s Trophy - although progressed as runners-up and will travel to Sunderland in round two - and 2-1 at Exeter in League Two. They have dropped to 23rd having been one place higher at the time of the first meeting.
The Latics are without a win in their last six in all competitions and have won just once in their last 10.
Their most recent home win, one of only two this season, came against Stevenage a month ago when they won 3-0, although they’ve played on the Boundary Park turf only twice since then, those games both ending in 3-1 defeats to Walsall and Swindon, for whom on-loan Blues striker Tyreece Simpson scored twice.
Town boss Paul Cook has said there will be changes for the replay having named the same side which had beaten Wycombe 4-1 a few days earlier for the first time, aside from Cameron Burgess replacing the injured Hayden Coulson at left-back. The Blues are in away action again at Sunderland on Saturday.
"There will be changes but purely on the basis that we want to pick a team to go and win the game,” he said following the 0-0 draw with Oxford at the weekend.
"We want to pick a very aggressive strong team. We want to be playing Barrow at home in the next round.
"Like I’ve just said to the lads, big clubs have a lot of football games because they’re on good runs, and that’s what we want to develop into.”
Vaclav Hladky may be given a start in goal with Cook having to decide whether to stick with Bailey Clements or recall Matt Penney at left-back.
Kane Vincent-Young could be fit enough to start at right-back after suffering a shoulder injury in the Papa John’s Trophy tie at Colchester but otherwise Janoi Donacien will continue.
Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess will be hoping to get the nod at centre-half instead of George Edmundson and Toto Nsiala.
In central midfield, Cook may look to give games to Idris El Mizouni and Rekeem Harper with Tom Carroll also back training with the squad following his hip flexor problem.
Scott Fraser is another alternative in the middle but is more likely to come into contention for the left-sided role along with Kyle Edwards.
Sone Aluko and Wes Burns are the options on the right with Conor Chaplin perhaps starting as the number 10 rather than Bersant Celina. Joe Pigott looks likely to start as the lone striker.
Historically, the Blues have won seven games between the sides (five in the league) and the Latics nine (nine) with six (four) ending in draws.
Prior to this season, the clubs had previously drawn one another in the FA Cup twice, in 1953/54 and 1963/64, both in round three.
On the first occasion the teams drew 3-3 at Portman Road - Neil Myles, Billy Reed and Tom Garneys the Town scorers - before the Blues won 1-0 away in the replay via a Garneys goal.
And in 1964 Town won 6-3 at home - the scoreline having been 5-2 at half-time - with Gerry Baker hitting a hat-trick and Danny Hegan two after Joe Broadfoot had given the Blues an early lead.
The most recent league meeting between the sides at Boundary Park came in August 1996 when the teams drew 3-3 with Alex Mathie netting twice and Mick Stockwell once.
Town centre-half George Edmundson started his career with Oldham and made 77 starts and two sub appearances for the Latics, scoring three times before moving on to Rangers in June 2019.
Fellow defender Burgess spent time on loan at Boundary Park in the first half of 2016/17 during which time he played one game alongside Edmundson, a 5-4 home EFL Trophy defeat to Carlisle, and in total made 31 starts and scored two goals.
No member of the Oldham squad has previously played for the Blues but midfielder Bahamboula's elder brother Plaisir, who is now a rapper and social media star in France under the name OhPlai, spent time on trial at Portman Road in the summer of 2012.
Two seasons ago the Blues defeated Lincoln City 1-0 at Sincil Bank in a first round replay, ending their 15-match winless run in the competition stretching back to January 2010, before losing 2-1 to Coventry in a second round replay at home having drawn 1-1 at St Andrew’s.
Last year Town were beaten 3-2 at home by Portsmouth in extra-time in the first round at Portman Road.
Tuesday’s referee is Carl Boyeson from East Yorkshire, who has shown 25 yellow cards and no red in 10 games so far this season.
Boyeson’s last Town game was the 1-0 away win at Fleetwood in October 2019 in which he awarded the Blues a penalty after Kayden Jackson had been felled, but the striker scuffed his spot-kick the wrong side of the post.
Late on, he showed James Wilson a second yellow card and then a red, while also booking Cole Skuse, Jon Nolan, James Norwood, Gwion Williams and four home players.
Before that he was in charge of the 2-1 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday on the final day of the 2013/14 season in which he booked Tommy Smith and one Owl.
Boyeson was also in charge of the 3-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest in January 2012 in which he booked only Grant Leadbitter, who also netted a spotkick which had been awarded after Jay Emmanuel-Thomas had been fouled.
Prior to that, Boyeson refereed the 4-2 defeat at Leicester on the final day of 2010/11 when Leadbitter netted another penalty, awarded after Jeffrey Bruma punched away a corner. Leadbitter was one of three Town players yellow-carded that day along with Damien Delaney and Lee Martin.
Earlier that season Boyeson had been the man in the middle for the 2-1 win at Derby in which he cautioned Carlos Edwards and one home player.
In April of the previous campaign Boyeson had been in charge of the 2-2 draw at Newcastle in which he awarded the Magpies a penalty after Leadbitter had fouled Nicky Butt that Shola Ameobi tucked away. David Norris and David Wright were the only players booked.
Boyeson also took charge of the 2-1 win at Barnsley in January 2009 in which he kept his cards in his pocket throughout.
In February 2007 Boyeson red-carded Owen Garvan for a reckless challenge late in a 2-0 home defeat to Leicester City in which future Blue Gareth McAuley scored both goals, the midfielder having already been booked along with one visiting player.
Boyeson also refereed the 4-2 win at QPR in December 2004, the 3-1 victory at Walsall in March 2004 and the 3-0 home defeat of Preston in January 2003.
Squad from: Hladky, Walton, Holy, Donacien, Vincent-Young, Clements, Penney, Kenlock, Edmundson, Nsiala, Burgess, Woolfenden, Morsy, Evans, Harper, El Mizouni, Carroll, Fraser, Burns, Chaplin, Celina, Edwards, Bonne, Pigott, Barry, Jackson, Norwood.