Ipswich Town Women’s Vitality Women's FA Cup third round tie against Portishead Town on Sunday has been moved to Playford Road and will be played behind closed doors.

The tie was originally set to be played at the AGL Arena, however, due to the freezing conditions, the surface has been deemed unplayable with Felixstowe & Walton’s home game against Bury Town having been postponed 30 minutes ahead of its scheduled kick-off time this afternoon.

Despite the AGL Arena being unavailable, Town are keen for the game to take place to avoid a build-up of fixtures with the move coming too late to organise stewarding to host fans at Playford Road.

In a statement, the club said: “We apologise to any supporters that were hoping to attend the fixture.”

The Tractor Girls thrashed Luton Town 7-0 away in the first round before defeating London Seaward 3-0 at home in the second a fortnight ago.

Portishead are currently eighth in the FAWNL Division One South West, a tier below the Blues.

Joe Sheehan's side 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.

Forward Zoe Barratt, who returned from the knee injury she suffered on the opening day of the season to come on as a sub in the London Seaward tie, says the Blues will be looking for another extended run in the competition.

“We love an FA Cup run here. Last year we had the quarter-finals last year and Manchester City a couple of years ago, we just love this competition so much,” she said.

“We want to play WSL teams, to compete against them and the prize money’s good for the club as well.”

Regarding the visitors, she added: “They’ll be up for it, like any team that comes to play against us and we’ll have to be at our best, be 100 per cent on it and hopefully win the game.”

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