Town boss Kieran McKenna wants a really intense Portman Road atmosphere when leaders Plymouth Argyle visit for Saturday’s crunch third-v-first clash.

The Blues go into the match seven points behind the Pilgrims and two off second-placed Sheffield Wednesday with Town and the Owls having a game in hand on the Devon side, who drew 0-0 in the league at Bolton Wanderers last week while their rivals were in FA Cup third round action.

McKenna believes what’s expected to be a sell-out Portman Road crowd in excess of 28,000 will have their part to play in seeing their side to a vital three points.

“I think there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “We need to make it a really intense atmosphere for the opposition to play in because we love it when it’s like that.

“We enjoy it when it’s like that and we need to create that for the opposition because when we do that, the team on the pitch we’re up against feels the full force of us and what we’re bringing on the pitch, then they feel the full force of the stands and then it’s a formidable place to go.

“I think we’re coming off of a really good win against Rotherham, a really big win against Oxford and a really big win against Peterborough at home, so we’re coming off three really strong home performances and strong results, and we want to carry that into Saturday.

“Of course, football doesn’t always go as smoothly as what you want and I always say that that’s when we’ll be tested even more as a club, and that’s when we need to show the togetherness and the resilience.

“And there will be moments in the game that aren’t going our way and that’s where I really trust at the moment that as a team and as a club we’ll really be there and stick together.

“We know that when we go to places that have a big crowd, very often we’re saying to the players that if we take control of the game, then the crowd will turn against the team and the other team will get edgy. And that’s something that we certainly don’t want and haven’t had in our home games.

“But they are also going be a big help at the points when the players need that extra support and extra push, and I think if we all do that, then we give ourselves a great chance to get the win.”

The Blues’ support will be augmented by more than 100 supporters of Fortuna Düsseldorf making their first trip to Portman Road since before the pandemic, along with representatives from the Danish, Norwegian and South West branches.

Asked whether Saturday’s match is the biggest since he joined Town just over a year ago, and therefore the biggest of his managerial career to date, McKenna said: “I honestly haven’t thought about it in that way because we honestly do stick to the mantra of treating every game with maximum respect and respecting each opponent.

“Of course it’s a big game, we don’t want to get away from that, we want to enjoy that fact and we want to embrace it.

“It’s a massive game, it’s the type of game that we want to be involved in, we’re desperate for the three points and we’ll do everything we can to win.

“It’s certainly a really big game. I’ve got no interest in ranking them, but it’s a really big game and we’re super excited for it and we’re really motivated to go and get the three points.”

The Northern Irishman says he has been impressed with the Pilgrims, who have pushed on following last season’s seventh-place finish.

“I think they’ve done very, very well, it must be said,” he continued. “I think they got 80 points last year, which is very unusual for that not to get you in the play-offs. Again, they are on 57 points already this season which is an incredible tally, really.

“They are obviously doing a lot of things well. They’ve got a good manager [Steven Schumacher], they’ve got good organisation, they are good in all phases and they’ve had individuals stepping up at big moments.

“They’ve won a lot of tight games through very, very good individual goals and they’ve won a lot of tight games through big saves from their goalkeeper [Michael Cooper].

“We respect them and we know they are a strong opponent, but we focus on ourselves, and we have to be ready for Saturday and bring the best of ourselves.”

Like Town, Plymouth have had a busy January window so far. Nine-goal forward Morgan Whittaker was recalled by parent club Swansea - with the Blues still interested but not the club which has had an offer turned down by the Welsh club - while the Pilgrims have made five additions.

They have signed Ben Waine from New Zealand side Wellington Phoenix, Saxon Earley from Norwich following a successful loan spell at Stevenage, Callum Wright from Blackpool and Tyreik Wright, who had been on loan at Bradford, from Aston Villa on permanent deals, and former Fleetwood midfielder Jay Matete on loan from Sunderland.

But they will be without their skipper Joe Edwards, who was sent off during injury time against Bolton last week.

“There’s no point in predicting too much about it,” McKenna said when asked whether those factors would have an impact on Saturday’s match.

“Obviously, Morgan Whittaker is a very good player and they’ll have been disappointed to lose him back to Swansea because he’s been a big part of what they’ve done in the first half of the year.

“But they’ve brought in more good players, who’ve made an impression straight away. They’ve added well and they’ve got good depth and good options for the second half of the season, which is where we all want to be.

“They had a red card late in the game [last week], which they’ll be disappointed with, but that’s one of the reasons why they’ve brought in five players and why we all want to strengthen and have a squad to make sure we have good cover for those sorts of situations.

“To be honest, I haven’t focused too much on their ins or outs apart from the guys who we think will play on Saturday and the focus has been completely on making sure that we’re ready for that.”

Looking back to the 2-1 defeat to the Pilgrims at Home Park in September, McKenna was quizzed on whether he thought his side should have got something from the match.

“I think it certainly could have gone either way as a minimum,” he reflected. “At 1-0 up, I thought we were the team in the ascendency and the team more likely to get the second goal.

“The game changed off of their goal, a really good strike and we should have handled the next spell of the game better in terms of managing the momentum and the backing they had from their crowd.

“I don’t know how long it was between the goals, but it probably wasn’t more than 10 minutes and we didn’t handle that spell well enough and that was something that we looked at after the game.

“It was a high level game between two good teams and, of course, we were disappointed that we don’t have the points because it would be three points more for us and three points less for them and the situation would be different.

“But it’s a new game on Saturday and we’re looking forward to expecting a tough challenge and we’ll be trying everything we can to try and make sure that this time we’ll come out on top.”

Having had injury and then illness problems over the last few months, McKenna currently has a wealth of options to pick from ahead of Saturday’s match including his three January additions, Massimo Luongo, George Hirst and Nathan Broadhead.

“I think that’s where we need to be and there’s where we want to be, to be honest, to be a big club,” he said.

“I think the competition that we’re up against will be in the same boat because we all know that’s the best position to give yourself a chance to win a lot of games.

“We have 22 outfielders training at the moment. Of course, we can only pick 16, but the players know that everyone is going to have a part to play in the second half of the season, whether they are starting or on the bench.

“Also, very importantly, when they’re not involved the energy and commitment everyone gives to the training sessions will directly impact the result on a Saturday.

“So the numbers are back where we want them to be. We’re back where we started the season now with the couple of long-term injuries that we have, and we feel like that’s where we are at our best and most competitive as a squad.”

Christian Walton seems certain to be in goal against the club he supported as a boy and where he started his career.

Janoi Donacien is one of those over the recent illness bug and he looks set to be in his usual right-sided role with Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess to his left.

Leif Davis and Wes Burns will be out wide with skipper Sam Morsy and Lee Evans set to be in the centre of midfield.

McKenna now has plenty of options in his attack but with Broadhead probably more likely to start than Hirst having been involved with his former loan side Wigan prior to his switch to the Blues.

Top scorer Conor Chaplin looks set to be one of the number 10s, perhaps alongside either Broadhead or Marcus Harness with Freddie Ladapo facing his old club as the central striker.

If that is the case, Hirst, who has made one start in the last three months, would appear likely to make his debut from the bench.

Like McKenna, Plymouth boss Schumacher is very much looking forward to the match.

“I’m excited about it,” he told his club’s official website. “I think it'll be a great occasion. If the game's anywhere near the standard of the game that it was when we played them at Home Park, then it should be exciting.

“The first game was excellent. It was played in a good spirit. Two teams went at it and we came out on top. We managed to get score two great goals in a game that could have gone either way.

“I watched that back this week and yet the quality on show from both sides was really good for League One, and we're expecting something similar.

“Ipswich are one of the most dangerous teams in the division. They've got so many good players. Defensively they're organised and solid as well as you would expect. It’s going to be a hard game, but hopefully it's an exciting one.

“We'll go there with the same mindset of trying to be aggressive and try and go ahead and get a good result.”

Regarding opposite number McKenna and the Blues’ January recruits, he added: “It’s a challenge, going up against one of the best managers and best coaches in the country. It’s what you want, it’s the games you want to be involved in.

“I'm sure it won't be all straightforward. I'm sure Kieran’s watched us as well and knows that we've got our strengths and we can be a threat to them.

“I don't think they're making those types of signings if they're not going to be part of Kieran’s plans. The team is third in the league at the moment, flying and doing well.

“There isn’t a need to come in and make wholesale changes, it’s not as though Ipswich have been struggling.

“Maybe their new lads, a bit like ours, have to wait for their opportunity. Their squad is strong in all areas, so whatever team they pick, we’re going to be up against it.

“I don't think they'll change too much about what they do. They've got a clear style and identity of how they like to play and how they’d like to pass the ball.

“We'll have to figure out a way of trying to stop that. I don't think it'll be too dissimilar to what we've seen early on in the season.

“It's trying to figure out how to nullify the opposition and then where you feel you can get the better of them.”

Plymouth have sold all 2,144 of their seats for the match and Schumacher wants his fans to make themselves heard.

“We have to think about that because their crowd is similar to our crowd: they play a huge part and can influence things,” he said.

“We need to try and manage that, especially early on in the game. We know we're going to come under spells of pressure, that's understandable. It's how we manage those spells. We're going to need all the experience that we've got on the pitch to calm everyone down.

“We're going to need some energy on the pitch as well, because you can't go to Portman Road and just defend for 90 minutes. We’re going to have to take the ball, be brave, and give them something to worry about too.”

In addition to the new signings, defender James Bolton was back after a long-term foot injury for the midweek 2-0 Papa Johns Trophy victory at Bristol Rovers and on-loan Aston Villa midfielder Finn Azaz is fit again after an ankle injury. However, skipper Edwards is suspended following that red card at Bolton.

Full-back Brendan Galloway is out until February with a torn hamstring, while former Blues loanee Conor Grant is another long-term absentee after tearing a thigh muscle. Forward Mickel Miller also has a hamstring injury.

Plymouth go into the game undefeated in eight matches in all competitions. In the league, they had won four in a row until the 0-0 draw with the Trotters.

Away from home their form in League One this season reads won five, drawn six and lost only two, both in August at Fleetwood, 2-1, and Charlton, 5-1.

Having netted 21 times on the road, they are the joint-second top away scorers with only Town, 25, having scored more on their travels.

Town have had the edge over Argyle in games between the sides over the years, winning 22 games (21 in the league), losing 13 (13) and drawing 15 (15).

Plymouth last won at Portman Road in March 2010 - one of only two wins - when Blues and Argyle legend Paul Mariner led the Pilgrims to a 2-0 victory over Roy Keane’s Town.

At Home Park in September, Argyle came from a goal down to inflict Town’s first League One defeat of the season and replaced them at the top of the table.

Ladapo’s first league goal for the Blues on 39 gave Town a half-time lead but Bali Mumba and Whittaker netted in the 69th and 75th minutes to claim the points and top spot for the Pilgrims.

The teams last met at Portman Road in March when Sam Morsy’s 37th-minute goal saw Town to a 1-0 victory.

Morsy turned in James Norwood’s pass and the Blues ought to have won more comfortably against the then-fourth-placed Pilgrims, who had won their previous six matches without conceding.

Pilgrims centre-half James Wilson was with the Blues between August 2019 and May 2021. The Wales international made 47 starts and two sub appearances for Town, scoring twice, and was named the supporters Player of the Year in 2020/21.

Plymouth midfielder Grant spent three months on loan with the Blues when an Everton player early in 2016/17, making four starts and three sub appearances. He moved to Home Park in July 2018 on a free transfer.

Pilgrims winger Danny Mayor joined the Devon club from Bury in July 2019 having held talks at Portman Road with regard to a move to Town.

Blues keeper Walton started his career with Plymouth, joining their youth system aged 10 and was an unused sub for a first-team game when 16 without making it onto the field before moving on to Brighton's academy.

He later returned for a loan spell during the first half of 2015/16 when he made four appearances.

Camara, who is sidelined following surgery on the groin injury he suffered last season while with Argyle, spent two years with the Pilgrims before joining the Blues at the start of the season, making 82 starts and 13 sub appearances, scoring 10 goals.

Striker Ladapo was with Argyle during the 2018/19 season, scoring 19 times in 46 starts and three sub appearances and securing a £500,000 move to Rotherham.

Town keeper-coach Rene Gilmartin had a spell with the Pilgrims when Walton was at Home Park, making 16 appearances during 2012/13.

Saturday’s referee is Andy Woolmer from Northamptonshire, who has shown 73 yellow cards and three red in 19 games so far this season.

Woolmer’s last Town match was the 4-1 home defeat by Peterborough in February 2020 in which he awarded both sides a penalty. Posh’s came after Siriki Dembele was played in on goal on the right of the area and was felled by Wilson, who is back at Portman Road today with the Pilgrims.

Town’s was awarded after Norwood was fouled by Mark Beevers. Ivan Toney and Norwood netted the spot-kicks. Gwion Edwards, Cole Skuse and two Posh players were yellow-carded during the game.

Prior to that, Woolmer was in charge of the 1-1 draw at West Brom in March 2019 in which he booked Edwards again, Jonas Knudsen and two Baggies.

Before that he had been in the middle for the 1-1 draw at home to Sheffield United in December 2018 in which he cautioned Trevoh Chalobah, Jordan Spence and two of the visitors.

The previous month he was also at Portman Road for the 1-1 draw with Preston in Paul Lambert’s first game as Blues manager in which Lilywhites keeper Chris Maxwell was red-carded for a second bookable offence and yellow cards were also shown to Luke Chambers, Gwion Edwards again, Matt Pennington, Freddie Sears and two other visiting players.

Woolmer also officiated in the 3-0 victory over QPR in November 2016 in which he booked Tom Lawrence and three opposition players.

He refereed the 1-0 home victory over Nottingham Forest in the Championship in the previous March in which he booked Luke Hyam and four of the visitors.

Two months earlier he had taken control of the 2-1 FA Cup replay defeat at Portsmouth in which he red-carded Piotr Malarczyk for two bookable offences - the only yellow cards of the night - and also awarded a penalty against the Polish defender.

He also refereed the 2-1 win at Wigan in September 2014, in which he booked only Tyrone Mings and Christophe Berra ,and the 3-0 victory over Bristol City at Portman Road in the Championship in March 2012, in which he cautioned three Town players and four Robins.

Squad from: Walton, Hladky, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Keogh, Burgess, Burns, Vincent-Young, Davis, Leigh, Morsy, Evans, Luongo, Humphreys, Edwards, Chaplin, Harness, Aluko, Broadhead, Ladapo, Hirst, Jackson, Ahadme.

Photo: TWTD

therein61 added 18:47 - Jan 12 With the sickness bug just about gone and the new additions settling in well with the squad we need to get 3 points against Plymouth to make a statement and put the pressure on them C.O.Y.B
3

HopefulBlue69 added 19:32 - Jan 12 According to Wales Online Mark McGuiness is actually back in Cardiff today (Thursday) and training with their squad. He is definitely back from Sheff Wed... Can't pretend I'm sad for them but I'd be pissed if was recalled from us...
2

IpswichT62OldBoy added 19:34 - Jan 12 It's a proper 6 pointer isn't it.
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ArnieM added 20:09 - Jan 12 C'mon guys, he's asking us for our help and input . Let's bloody DO this !!
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blueboy1981 added 20:54 - Jan 12 Why fear Plymouth if the Confidence is Real ? - we are at Home, seems like they've lost their key man Whittaker, so they will surely miss him. Go at them from the off, as if we expect to Win - which indeed we need to anyway. Six Points required from Plymouth and SW - is the reality of the situation, otherwise we will have slipped away somewhat.
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BurleysGloryDays added 21:01 - Jan 12 Big support even and especially if it starts going against us!
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Ebantiass added 07:31 - Jan 13 A massive game and I for one believe it's a game we could easily win. The league leaders demand respect and being at home is no gaurantee, but our home form has picked up of late and with a couple of fresh new faces, this could be a great weekend. Lets make some serious noise and take the three points. BLUEARMY ⚽️💙⚽️💙⚽️💙
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ImAbeliever added 10:52 - Jan 13 I'll be bouncing up and down and behaving like I was 18 as usual (until my back gives up). Give it a large one tomorrow!
5

ArnieM added 11:05 - Jan 13 If they score , we MUST ramp the volume up … really ramp it up and keep it going . It would hard but LETS DO THIS!!! ✊✊✊
5

dirtydingusmagee added 11:35 - Jan 13 no doubting its a huge game, But we now have a squad of players not the slackers of a season or two ago. 90 + MINUTES OF GRAFT and we should bag the points. COYB .
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Marinersnose added 12:20 - Jan 13 It will be a fantastic occasion tomorrow with two very good sides going head to head. Both squads have been significantly improved during the early part of the transfer window so it will be a tough game for both. Our crowd should give us an advantage over Plymouth with a full house at PR. Three points would be brilliant and would be a boost psychologically to us and possibly have a negative affect on Plymouth. We have the quality to beat them for sure. COYB

3

RobinHood added 12:30 - Jan 13 As a life long supporter I think we are having one of our best transfer periods. Please Mr McKenna and The Board can we just smash it and get in Taylor and Whittaker. That done we would be really be rocking and rolling.Fingers crossed.
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TimmyH added 12:37 - Jan 13 We've got to take this lot out...payback time, not a draw.
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Tufty added 13:24 - Jan 13 Can't wait.
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legoman added 16:03 - Jan 13 Difficult prediction. Will go with my heart for this one.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:27 - Jan 13 My starting eleven, with apologies to the excellent Humphreys: Walton, Donacien, Woolf, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Evans Burns; Chaplin, Ladapo, Broadhead. Plenty of options for substitutions later. But I don't pretend to know better than K McK.
2

TractorBeezer added 16:40 - Jan 13 I predict 2-1 for the Tractor Boys and will be watching from Ontario on iFollow
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Billysherlockblue added 16:49 - Jan 13 Massive Massive game. Best of luck to the boys. Graft for the 90 and we'll win. Slackin off and we lose.
3

gosblue added 17:06 - Jan 13 Ladapo, Harness and Chaplin would be my attacking choice and bring on Broadhead on the hour to get the ground bouncing. I'd probably save Hirst for another day unless we are chasing the game or winning comfortably, maybe 10 minutes as a treat for the fans or to grab a late winner. Gently does it. COYB
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Linkboy13 added 20:51 - Jan 13 It's very quiet at Portman road when things are not going well and the away team are on top . It takes the team to raise the fans we need to get behind them when the team really needs lifting COYB.
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blueboy1981 added 22:43 - Jan 13 Lose tomorrow and the situation at the Top then looks VERY different !! - lose to SW and it changes even more - we HAVE to WIN them both. Otherwise, we then have the task of chasing, with much less confidence for such.
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warktheline added 11:07 - Jan 14 I've no doubt whatsoever we'll pick up all 3 points today! Probably more comfortably than many would believe! I'm super confident !
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blueboy1981 added 11:22 - Jan 14 TEST DAY No 1 - Will we Pass it ? Possesion will count for little - Goals for Everything !!
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Eeyore added 13:04 - Jan 14 Only 7 allowed on the bench So Hirst might not be there. Some good players will be left out of the squad now. Leigh and Edwards might not get in. Ahadme looks like he is out. Either Edmundson or Keogh won't make the bench either. Humphrey's will be on the bench but will Luongo?
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Eeyore added 13:06 - Jan 14 And Jackson with his 1 in last 60 league appearances will be out.
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