Town host Cardiff City at Portman Road on Saturday aiming to return to winning ways in the Championship following last week’s 4-3 home defeat to Leeds United.

The Blues dropped to sixth in the table as a result of their first loss in 22 matches and their first reverse at Portman Road since October last year in an end-to-end game from which they might have claimed a point or perhaps even all three.

Cardiff, who finished one place and five points off relegation last season, currently sit 17th in the Championship having started their league campaign with a 2-2 draw at Leeds, having been 2-0 in front at half-time and 2-1 until the final minute, before defeats at home to QPR and at Leicester, both 2-1.

They then picked up their first win of the season at home to Sheffield Wednesday last week, also 2-1, and backed that up with a 3-1 victory away against Birmingham in the Carabao Cup in midweek.

“A really strong team, their two away games have been Leeds and Leicester and they gave a really good account of themselves in both games,” manager Kieran McKenna said.

“A team packed full of Championship experience, pace and power, a good amount of Premier League experience and another really tough game. That's what we expect every week and we expect it again this week.

“We've watched all the areas where they're strong and tried to identify areas where we'll try and impose ourselves on them.

“But it's going to be another great challenge, as it is going to be each week and we know how hard we're going to have to work for the points, and we know that to do that we'll have to deliver a performance so that's where our whole focus is.”

McKenna says the keenly-contested 1-0 win at QPR recently illustrates the competitive nature of the Championship regardless of where teams finished in the table last season.

“There's such a turnover in teams and managers in the Championship that I don't think you can relate too much to where teams finished last year because it's not uncommon at the moment that teams are maybe changing double digits in terms of [player] incomings and changing managers,” he added.

“Cardiff last year to Cardiff this year probably doesn't have too many resemblances and we know it's going to be a really tough game.

“I say it's a team with lots of Championship experience, much more so than us in recent times, and Premier League experience in their playing squad and good players and an experienced manager [Erol Bulut]. 

“They've put in two really good, strong performances in their two away games, so we know it's going to be tough.

“We know that we'll have to be our best to compete, but I think we're playing well as well and there's lots of good things in our performances to build on and lots of substance to what we're doing, so we'll have to try and go and implement that again tomorrow.”

McKenna is likely to return to essentially the side which started against Leeds last week with Vaclav Hladky continuing in goal in the absence of Christian Walton.

Harry Clarke looks set to be at right-back with Janoi Donacien still sidelined with his groin problem, while Leif Davis will be the left-back and Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess the centre-halves.

Skipper Sam Morsy will be joined by Massimo Luongo in the centre of midfield with Wes Burns on the right, Conor Chaplin in the middle and Nathan Broadhead on the left of the three behind the central striker.

McKenna said at his press conference that he would assess whether George Hirst was OK to start later on Friday and on Saturday, the frontman having missed the Leeds match with an adductor problem, before making a decision.

If the former Leicester man is only considered ready for the bench, then Kayden Jackson could well keep his place, although with Freddie Ladapo is an alternative option.

Cardiff manager Bulut says he and his team aren’t getting carried away after a couple of positive results.

“We keep our feet on the ground,” he told his club’s official website. “We continue to work hard every day. Ipswich will not be easy, they are a good team, but we will go there to take something from the game.

“We will play against a team who score a lot of goals. Their last game was a 4-3 defeat, so we can see that they have problems defensively and we have to use this.

“Of course, everybody wants to win - all the managers, all players, everybody wants to win. For me, even training matches, I want to win.

“I try to give them the winning spirit, to think positively. To think already about the match, what I want to do in the match, how I want to do it, these are important things, and I try to give them all positive things.”

Republic of Ireland winger Callum O’Dowd will miss out with a tendon injury, while his international teammate Callum Robinson has missed the last couple of matches having suffered a knock following his return from a serious hamstring injury.

Bulut has added Nottingham Forest centre-half Jonathan Panzo on loan for the season ahead of their trip to Suffolk having battled Welsh rivals Swansea for his signature.

Town have the upper hand historically, winning 21 (19 in the league), drawing 14 (14) and losing 16 (15).

The teams last met at Portman Road in February 2018 when Kenneth Zohore’s 65th minute goal was enough to give Cardiff City a 1-0 victory.

The Dane netted at the second attempt after initially missing his volley and the ball striking his hand, the visitors having improved after the break after Town had been on top in the first half.

In the Welsh capital in the previous October, Bersant Celina was on target for the Blues but his late goal wasn’t enough to prevent Town from falling to a 3-1 defeat.

Junior Hoilett put the Bluebirds in front on 12, then Omar Bogle doubled the lead seconds after the break.

Celina’s final-minute goal threatened to set up an unexpected grandstand finish but Danny Ward’s injury time goal ended Town’s hopes of gaining a surprise point.

Town wideman Burns was with his hometown club as an academy schoolboy before being released but was a Bluebirds supporter as a boy as are his family.

The Cardiff City squad includes former Blues loanee Mark McGuinness, who was at Portman Road from Arsenal in 2020/21 making 24 starts and one sub appearance, scoring three times. The Irish international joined the Bluebirds that summer.

Saturday’s referee is Gavin Ward from Surrey, who has shown 13 yellow cards and no red in four games so far this season.

Ward’s most recent Town match was the pre-season friendly against Luton at Colchester in which he kept his cards in his pocket throughout.

His last competitive Blues match was the 3-0 win at Peterborough in April in which he booked Morsy, Chaplin, Burns and one Posh player.

He was also in charge of the 2-0 home defeat to Rotherham in November 2021 in which he again yellow-carded Morsy and three of the visitors.

Before that, he was in the middle for the 2-0 defeat at Fleetwood in March the same year in which he booked Gwion Edwards and two home players.

Prior to that he took control of the 3-2 home victory over Leeds in the final Championship game prior to relegation from the Championship in May 2019 in which he booked Toto Nsiala, Kayden Jackson and one White, and showed Blues captain Luke Chambers a late straight red card for a foul for which he also awarded the visitors a penalty.

Ward was also the man in the middle for the 6-1 pre-season thrashing at Charlton ahead of the start of the 2017/18 campaign and refereed the 1-0 away victory over the MK Dons in December 2015 in which he yellow-carded Chambers, Jonathan Douglas and Freddie Sears.

A month earlier he had taken charge of the 2-2 draw at home to Wolves in which he again cautioned Chambers and two visiting players.

Ward also took control of the 3-1 home victory over Cardiff in April of the same year in which he booked Cole Skuse, Tyrone Mings and Christophe Berra and two visiting players. Prior to that he refereed the 2-0 defeat at Rotherham that February.

Squad from: Hladky, Slicker, Clarke, Ball, Woolfenden, Burgess, Edmundson, Baggott, Davis, Williams, Morsy (c), Evans, Luongo, Taylor, Humphreys, Burns, Jackson, Chaplin, Broadhead, Harness, Aluko, Hutchinson, Hirst, Scarlett, Ladapo.

Photo: TWTD

Gonefishing added 10:01 - Sep 2 I love TWTD and it's pre match articles, but do we gain a single thing with the endless ref biops each week?
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Ebantiass added 10:57 - Sep 2 Nice read again, thanks for your efforts. Again a good championship side coming to us though I hope the Leeds game would give us the push we need to keep going at full speed. Leeds never outclassed us for long periods but they had the quality to make the difference in and around the box. We gave a really good account of ourselves and if we can tighten up at the back three points is a real possibility.

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BobbyBell added 12:40 - Sep 2 It was always known that mistakes would be punished in this league and so it was against Leeds. We must tighten up again as previously we'd only conceded one goal.
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dirtydingusmagee added 13:15 - Sep 2 put the Leeds game to bed, we made mistakes , but the fact there was only one goal in it shows Leeds could say the same, we showed we can fight back. Time to look forward not back COYB
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dirtydingusmagee added 17:10 - Sep 2 As i said we can fight back TOWN 3 Cardiff 2 come on you blues .
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