Ipswich Town Women are in Vitality Women’s FA Cup action this afternoon when they face Luton Town at at Sharpenhoe Road (KO 1pm).

The Tractor Girls will be looking to go on another impressive cup run having reached the quarter-finals twice in the previous three seasons before exiting at Manchester City in 2019/20 and then at home to West Ham in their first-ever live TV match last term.

“It’s an important competition for us and we all love the run we’ve been going on in the last couple of years, so to continue that is the aim for us all,” said defender Maria Boswell.

Town will be looking to bounce back from last week’s 2-0 reverse at Hashtag United in the FAWNL Cup, their first loss in seven matches.

Having been defeated by the leaders of FAWNL Division One South East, the fourth tier, the Blues face another team from a lower league, the Hatters, who currently lead the fifth tier, the Eastern Region Women’s Football League Premier Division, with a 100 per cent record.

“I think we learnt last week that teams in lower leagues aren’t to be underestimated,” Boswell continued. “And we’ve got to go there and perform like we would any other game this year, play our kind of game and just be on it.

“We need to go there and do what we’d do any other week, play like we would and prepare like we would. I think it’s just preparing the week as we would and hopefully go there and putting on a show.”

The game will see winger Sophie Peskett make her long-awaited return after undergoing ACL surgery a year ago.

“We’re all just buzzing for her,” Boswell said. “It’s been hard watching her going through the last year or so and the ups and downs of it. We live close together and I’ve always been there to support her through it.

“To see her doing so well in the last few weeks in training, we’re all excited to see her get however many minutes she gets on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, Town’s WSL Academy side were beaten 2-1 by Reading on Thursday with Megan Reilly the Blues’ goalscorer.

Elsewhere, Freya Godfrey and Sarah Brasero-Carriera were in the England U19s side which beat Norway 2-1 at the Algarve Cup in Portugal on Wednesday.

Photo: ITFC Women

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