Striker Jon Stead will be hoping that his two-goal salvo in last week's 2-0 home victory over QPR will win him a starting role in the side which takes on Blackpool at Bloomfield Road on Saturday. Stead has scored five goals in eight starts and three sub appearances since joining Town in August.

Boss Jim Magilton will have to decide whether to start with the 4-5-1 formation he has often utilised away from home or go with the 4-4-2 he used at Plymouth and against QPR as his team look to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

After the victories over the Pilgrims and QPR and the unlucky draw with Charlton, the Town manager will probably stick with 4-4-2 with Stead likely to come into the side for Kevin Lisbie alongside Jon Walters. The former Chester man's versatility allows the Blues to switch to 4-5-1 if required.

If Walters starts up front – as he did against Plymouth and QPR – that's likely to see David Norris on the right with Alan Quinn on the left and Owen Garvan and Veliche Shumulikoski continuing their partnership in the centre of midfield.

At the back, Jim Magilton has confirmed that Ben Thatcher will remain behind to work on his fitness after more than a month out of action with a torn thigh muscle. The former Charlton man played the full 90 minutes for the reserves on Monday, but is not yet ready for a first team return.

The Town defence is set to remain unchanged once again with Moritz Volz on the right, David Wright on the left and with Gareth McAuley and Richard Naylor in the centre. Tommy Smith remains on the sidelines after breaking his ankle with his return to action expected in the early part of next year.

Pablo Couñago and Kevin Lisbie are likely to be amongst the substitutes, while Danny Haynes is a doubt with the abdominal injury he sustained in training a week ago. The striker or wide midfielder will be assessed prior to the squad flying to the North-West later today.

Magilton says a third away win of the season will increase his side's confidence: "Another result tomorrow will keep the self-belief going and build it even more and if we can keep going collectively and with the same desire as we have shown this season then we will be OK.

"We had to do the ugly things first last weekend, which we did well, and the lads showed terrific character to then go on and gain three impressive points.

"If we don't work as hard or harder than Blackpool do tomorrow then we will lose the game.

"With stands only round three sides it can be a strange place to play and I know I didn't like playing at Portman Road when the North Stand had been knocked down and was being rebuilt because the open end seemed to vacate the atmosphere from the ground.

"We will have to overcome this, which I'm sure we will, and we will be travelling in good heart and will have no excuses if we lose as the preparation has been fine.”

The Seasiders, who currently sit in 13th place in the Championship on the same points as Town in eighth but with a goal difference nine worse, are likely to be unchanged, although striker Steve Kabba is back in contention having been unavailable for last week's game against former club Watford under the terms of the deal which saw him move to Bloomfield Road in the summer.

Ex-Blue Jermaine Wright, striker Daniel Nardiello and midfielder Stephen McPhee have all been sidelined with injuries in recent weeks and are not expected to return against the Blues.

Blackpool boss Simon Grayson says his side is capable of getting the better of Town: "Ipswich are another big team with good players. They have a lot of experienced players and good young players coming through.

"They've been a Championship team for a long time, the Premier League before that, but we've faced a few teams like that and all we will try to do again is to go out and play as well as we can. It's 11 v 11 and we feel we can beat anybody on our day.

"It's a game we are thoroughly looking forward to. Ipswich will have a lot of respect for us but we've got a lot of respect for them. Hopefully it's a good, entertaining game and we'll get a positive result.”

Town and the Tangerines have rarely met throughout their histories, but overall the Blues have had the upper hand, winning five times, drawing six and losing twice, one of those a League Cup tie in 1978/79, the only occasion the clubs have met in cup competition.

Last season, the Blues won 2-1 at home via goals from Veliche Shumulikoski and Jon Walters, Paul Dickov notching a late consolation with virtually everyone in the ground incorrectly assuming he was offside.

At Bloomfield Road in January, only a month prior to the Portman Road clash, Walters was again on the scoresheet, equalising Claus Jorgensen's earlier goal shortly after Sito had been sent off for a two-footed tackle.

Jermaine Wright is the only ex-Blue in the Blackpool squad at present, while no current Town player has previously featured for the Seasiders.

Saturday's referee is Colin Webster from Tyne and Wear, who has shown a miserly 13 yellow and two red cards in 13 games so far this season. Jim Magilton will remember Webster as the official who disallowed Pablo Couñago's late winner at Burnley last season, a decision which led to the Town boss being fined for using abusive and/or insulting words towards the official after the match.

Likely squad: R Wright, Supple, Volz, D Wright, Bruce, Naylor, McAuley, Balkestein, Shumulikoski, Garvan, Campo, Miller, Norris, Quinn, Haynes, Walters, Stead, Couñago, Lisbie, Rhodes.

Photo: Action Images

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