Town host Derby County at Portman Road on Saturday still looking for their first win of the season and also their first home league victory during 2025.
The Blues have had a tough start to the campaign with their squad in a state of flux, drawing 1-1 at Birmingham and by the same scoreline against Southampton in their only game at Portman Road so far, before last week’s 1-0 loss at Preston.
While still looking for their first home league win in 2025, the Blues are conversely unbeaten in their last 22 Championship games on their own turf.
Derby are currently 20th in the Championship, two places and one point behind the Blues, having picked up one point from their first three games.
The Rams opened their campaign with a 3-1 defeat at Stoke and followed that up with a 5-3 home defeat by Coventry, before they drew 1-1 with Bristol City at Pride Park last weekend.
In the Carabao Cup, they beat West Brom on penalties after a 1-1 draw in round one, then were defeated 2-1 by Premier League Burnley on Tuesday.
"It’s not a cliché to say that every one’s tough,” manager Kieran McKenna said when asked about Derby’s start to the season.
"They’ve had two tough games and they had a high-scoring game at Coventry, who have started well.
"The game could have gone either way, set pieces decided it, as so often they do. Coventry scored a couple of set-piece goals and Derby did as well.
"They had a really tough game at Bristol City last week, so I think you can see in the first weeks of the season especially, there’s really not much between anyone and everyone’s fighting and the games have been really tight and really competitive.
"We don’t expect anything other than that tomorrow. They’re a strong, experienced Championship team with a manager [John Eustace] with good Championship experience, lots of good players in the squad, good physicality, good depth and they’re going to come here to make it difficult for us and to get a result.
"We’re going to have to fight really hard to combat that and impose ourselves well on the game. We fully know what to expect and we have to be ready for the challenge.”
Having failed to win so far, a first victory would be a psychological boost and would calm any nervousness in the support.
"It would be big to get a positive result tomorrow and get a home win,” McKenna said. "But wishing and wanting for a result isn’t going to be enough, it isn’t going to do it, it doesn’t matter. Derby will be desperate to come for a win as well.
"It’s about what we do, it’s about everyone doing their jobs to the best of their ability, giving everything that they’ve got to the team.
"Getting our details right, imposing the things that we want to impose and standing up to the threats and the challenges of the game.
"You can only focus on the performance and delivering all the right things and if you do that then very often, and more often than not, it will lead to the result that you want. That’s been the work this week and that’s our mindset going into the game.”
The Derby squad features four ex-Blues players, most notably Kayden Jackson, who played a big part in Town’s back-to-back promotions.
"I’m looking forward to catching up with him tomorrow, hopefully after a good result for Ipswich,” McKenna said.
"I’ve spoken about Kayden before, he was one of the real big cultural architects in terms of getting things going in the right direction.
"Was incredible here in the group and had a really good impact on the pitch, always did a great job for the team in some big moments and in some big matches on the journey, so I’m sure he’ll get a good reception tomorrow and I look forward to catching up with him afterwards.”
Following last week’s disappointing result at Preston, McKenna may make one or two tweaks to his side, although it appears unlikely that any this week’s new signings will start.
Alex Palmer will be in goal with the back four again set to be, from the right, Ben Johnson, skipper Dara O’Shea, Jacob Greaves and Leif Davis.
Jens Cajuste may be considered ready to make his first start of the season, probably alongside Azor Matusiwa. If not, Jack Taylor will continue.
In the three ahead of them, McKenna could bring Chieo Ogbene back in on the right for Jack Clarke with Jaden Philogene on the left and Sammie Szmodics the number 10 behind George Hirst.
Ivan Azor, whose season-long loan from Como was confirmed last night, could make his debut from the bench, as may new right-back Darnell Furlong.
Midfield addition Marcelino Nunez has an ankle injury which will sideline him until after the international break. Harry Clarke (knee), Ali Al-Hamadi (calf) and Cameron Humphreys are also due back ahead of the Sheffield United match in a fortnight.
Rams boss John Eustace has added Scottish full-back Max Johnston from Austrian side Sturm Graz this week, as well as former Blues loanee Lewis Travis, who is reunited with his former Blackburn Rovers boss.
"I’m delighted to get them both,” Eustace said in his pre-match press conference. "The club have been really working their socks off to try and get the players in, which is great.
"I think Max is an attacking full-back. He’s at a really good age, obviously a full international already.
"He’s got great experience playing in the Champions League and playing in Europe. We’ve got a really good, exciting young player coming in. I’m always really excited to be here.
"It’s our job now to help with his development and create a really good asset to the football club, as well as making sure he performs to the top of his capabilities, which is what we'll do.
"Travis is a leader, and he's going to help the group immensely. Just the impact he has on and off the pitch, he’s a fantastic human being, he’s a good character, and he’s going to really help this football club move forward.”
Regarding Town, he added: "We’re playing against another top Championship team with a fantastic squad of players. They’ve certainly got a point to prove and they’ll want to get promoted back to the Premier League straight away.
"We know it’s going to be a test for us. We’re really looking forward to it. The boys have trained really well the last couple of days.
"I think the way we have progressed already throughout the season in the previous three or four games is very evident. We’re going there full of confidence, and we can’t wait for the game.”
Derby have a handful of injuries, Curtis Nelson and Corey Blackett-Taylor are long-term absentees, while Owen Beck, Kane Wilson and Sondre Langas are all also currently sidelined.
Former Charlotte FC striker Patrick Agyemang, who the Blues were also interested in at the start of the summer, and forward Lars Jorgen-Salvesen have both returned to training this week after hernia and knee surgeries respectively.
Historically, Town have had the better of Derby, winning 38 games (36 in the league), drawing 22 (20) and losing 29 (28).
The teams last met at Pride Park in April 2023 when the Blues moved to within two points of the top of League One after a 2-0 victory, their seventh successive win and their eighth clean sheet in a row.
Conor Chaplin gave Town the lead with his 20th goal of the season in the 17th minute and Hirst smashed his third in three games to seal the win 14 minutes from time.
At Portman Road in the previous October, Wes Burns netted in the 67th minute to see the Blues to a 1-0 victory over Derby County, their first home victory over the Rams since March 2014.
Burns smashed into the net after Jackson, who later saw a penalty saved, had hit the post having seized upon an under-hit Curtis Davies back pass to see Town to a rare victory in front of the Sky cameras.
Former Blues striker Jackson joined the Rams after his Portman Road release in the summer of 2024. The forward scored 28 goals in 100 starts and 99 sub appearances while at Town, winning promotion from League One and the Championship.
Midfielder Travis joined Derby this week from Blackburn having spent time on loan with the Blues in the second half of 2023/24 and helping Town to the Championship title.
Central defender Matt Clarke came through the academy ranks at Playford Road and went on to make one senior start and four sub appearance before moving on to Portsmouth, where he had spent the previous season on loan, in June 2016 as part of the deal which saw Adam Webster move in the opposite direction. Barham-born Clarke joined Derby from Middlesbrough in January.
Left-back Callum Elder was on loan with the Blues in the second half of 2018/19, making four starts and one sub appearance.
Saturday’s referee is Leigh Doughty, his assistants Richard Woodward and Callum Gough, and the fourth official David Rock.
Blackpool-based Doughty has shown 17 yellow cards and two red in five games so far this season.
Doughty’s last Town match was the 6-0 hammering of Sheffield Wednesday at Portman Road in March 2024 in which he booked Omari Hutchinson and two Owls.
Earlier that season, in November 2023, he was in the middle for the 2-2 draw at Birmingham City, yellow-carding Cameron Burgess and two home players.
He also took charge of the pre-season friendly against Luton at Colchester, which ended 1-1, in which he awarded the Hatters a penalty, which was converted by Carlton Morris, now with Derby, after George Edmundson slid in and felled Chieo Ogbene, then with the Bedfordshire side, although the defender, now with Middlesbrough, had clearly been pulled back in the build-up.
His only other competitive Town game was the 2-2 draw at Cambridge in October 2021 in which he booked Conor Chaplin and no one else.
Palmer, Walton, Button, Johnson, Young, Furlong, Davis, O’Shea (c), Woolfenden, Greaves, Kipre, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Taylor, Barbrook, J Clarke, Ogbene, Szmodics, Chaplin, Philogene, McAteer, Hirst, Akpom, Azon.