Titus Bramble is Town's only worry ahead of tonight's Worthington Cup semi-final second leg. The centre-half picked up a shin and calf problem when he was sent flying during the Sunderland game on Saturday. He is likely to be fit, but faces a test.
Bramble is desperate to take part in the match: "I'm desperate to play. It would be an amazing thing for me to help Ipswich into a final in my first full season."
Town skipper Matt Holland will make his 200th consecutive appearance for Town this evening. It is a fabulous acheivement for a man who is forging Town Legend status with the Blues.
Alun Armstrong is cup-tied for tonight despite some online betting sources listing him in the odds. It remains to be seen whether George Burley puts James Scowcroft or Richard Naylor in attack. Scowcroft is the fitter player with Bam Bam playing only a half since his injury. Naylor however, arguably plays better with Marcus Stewart than Scowcroft does so it may be a tricky decision for George Burley.
The game promises to be a scrappy affair with Birmingham captain Martin O'Connor promising to give Town a 'horrible' game on and off the pitch. The role of referee Jeff Winter will be crucial given Birmingham's approach. Town have had bad experiences before when referees have failed to deal with negative spoinling tactics, Charlton in a play-off a few years back immediately springs to mind.
In addition to this it is raining in Birmingham and it looks likely that the pitch will be a bit of a quagmire.
Town stand 1-0 ahead after the first leg and will hope to score to make the hosts require three goals on the night to win. Neither side has been particularly good a penalities in recent years should it come to that. Town seem to have missed as many as they have scored in the last three years or so while Birmingham have apparently missed four or five this season alone. I imagine both sets of fans will be praying it doesn't come to that.
Coverage of the game is not available on national radio, however, it is available via Radio Suffolk and on the net from the club's site. Highlights will be shown in the Anglia and Central regions at 11.30pm.
Full squad: R Wright, Branagan, Salmon, Wilnis, Clapham, Karic, Croft, Hreidarsson, McGreal, Venus, Bramble, Brown, Holland, Magilton, J Wright, Reuser, Scowcroft, Stewart, Naylor and Abidallah.