Town midfielder Lee Evans is a likely starter in the side that manager Kieran McKenna sends into battle at Portman Road tonight against Wolves in a Carabao Cup third round tie.

But will the former Welsh U21 and senior international lead the side, as he did in the earlier rounds to help see off Bristol Rovers and Reading, to set up the first visit of Premier League opposition since Fulham beat the Blues 1-0 in the same competition in September 2020?

Or, with regular skipper Sam Morsy suspended for next weekend’s trip to Huddersfield after collecting his fifth yellow card of the current campaign in Saturday’s 4-3 win over Blackburn, will McKenna feel inclined to make use of his experience and play him against the club where he spent time as a youth player?

To extend the guessing game still further, might we even see Evans, another former Wolves player, alongside Morsy in the middle of the park as McKenna, who made 11 changes in both earlier ties, takes the opportunity to add extra experience to his line-up, while at the same time also taking the opportunity to rest a number of his senior stars.

Evans, 29, is looking forward to testing himself against a Premier League side, even if head coach Gary O’Neill, who took charge on the eve of the current campaign, is also likely to shuffle his pack.

He said: “It will be a big test, a game in which we probably won’t be favourites but also one that we are all looking forward to.

“We want to win and we want to progress in the competition, but we know it is going to be tough and that we will have to be at our best to win it. It’s a challenge the whole squad are looking forward to.”

Town demonstrated last season how they can rise to the challenge of facing opposition from a higher level, eliminating second tier Rotherham in the FA Cup before taking eventual Championship winners Burnley to extra time in a replay before being knocked out.

“Last season was a good indication of what we can do but Wolves will clearly be another step up in terms of quality as they are a Premier League side.

“We will prepare properly, as always, and we will be aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and we will leave no stone unturned in attempting to get a positive result.”

Asked if Town would approach the game as they would a Championship fixture, Evans added: “I don’t think we will be any more reserved or pragmatic for this one as we were in the earlier rounds against Bristol Rovers and Reading.

“We’ll need to be more aware of what Wolves have and how they could hurt us, and we will need to be on our guard defensively.

“On the ball, offensively, we’ll try to do what we did to the teams we have beaten in this competition by exploiting their weaknesses. We’ll take the game to them and, as always, we’ll be looking for a positive result.”

How important is the Carabao Cup to Ipswich in a season where they have settled in seamlessly at Championship level, winning seven of their eight league games to sit alongside newly-relegated Leicester, who are only top by virtue of having a slightly better goal difference?

“It’s definitely important,” said Evans, “and with us having a big squad there are a number of players who want to stake a claim for a starting place in the first team that has been doing the business in the Championship.

“It’s up to the players who come in for the cup games to do as well as they can. That’s obviously why we have such a big squad – we train hard every week and this is an opportunity for some players to grab with both hands.”

Asked how he looked back on his time as a player at Wolves, where he made 67 appearances in all competitions and scored three goals during his five years there, Evans replied: “It seems like a long time ago but I have fond memories of my time at Molineux. Obviously, they bought me from Newport, who were non-league at the time, and I started out with the U23s.

“I graduated through to the first team when Kenny Jackett was the manager, so I have a lot to thank him and the club for. They really kick-started my career in the EFL and they were good times. I also met my wife while I was at Wolves, so I’ve got them to thank for that as well.”

Following his move, Evans, who was released by Bristol Rovers when he was 15, only ended one level higher in the English football pyramid. Newport won both the FA Trophy and the Conference play-offs to return to the Football League, while Wolves were experiencing tough times.

Evans continued: “I remember when it happened. It was a surreal moment to be told I was wanted by a big club like Wolves. They weren’t having the best of times – they had just been relegated from the Championship at the time – but the size and stature of the club was so different to anything I had known.

“You could just tell it was a big, fantastic football club. I remember going to Wolverhampton, staying the night and then getting it all done the next day, which was also deadline day. It was my first experience of anything like that and something I’ll never forget.

“I think there was interest from elsewhere but at the time I was just really enjoying my football at Newport. I was only 18 back then and I was having my first taste of senior football in the Conference. We were flying at the time and I was told about interest from some bigger clubs.

“I always had the view that if I played well enough for Newport it might alert other teams and that’s what happened. But I didn’t expect a club like Wolves would be coming in for me, that’s for sure.”

Photo: TWTD

bobble added 08:45 - Sep 26 he looks like sonny bill williams in that photo
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