Boss Kieran McKenna knows that winning tomorrow’s live-on-Sky local derby against Norwich City at Portman Road will be massive for Town supporters, but says he and his staff have sought to treat it as much like a normal league game as possible.

Blues supporters will need no reminding that Town haven’t beaten the Canaries since April 2009 when a 3-2 home win all but relegated the Norfolk side to League One. However, Norwich made a swift return from the third tier, then quickly were promoted to the Premier League and have been in the ascendency until this season.

While second-placed Town have made a record-breaking start to the campaign having made their return to the Championship after four years away, the Canaries are currently 12th, 21 points behind the Blues, having finished 13th last season, their first year back in the Championship following relegation.

Town’s current league superiority sees supporters go into the game with more confidence and expectancy than for many years.

“We’re just looking forward to the game,” manager Kieran McKenna said at his pre-match press conference.

“Of course, it’s a great occasion to be involved in and we want to enjoy that bit of it, the extra edge, the extra atmosphere around the whole town and what’s going to be around the game.

“They’re things to enjoy being part of, but at the end of the day then it’s going to be about trying to deliver a performance on the pitch.

“And that means we need to do what we’ve done in the last few days, which is stick to our process, prepare the game as well as we can, respect the opposition and do everything we can to give ourselves the best chance of performing on the day.

“Of course, enjoy the occasion but don’t get lost in what’s got us to a good position so far this season and what’s brought us to this point over a good amount of time now, which is focusing on ourselves and trying to go out there and performing as well as we can.”

Asked whether the players are particularly looking forward to the game, and even more so local boys such as Harry Clarke, Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Humphreys, McKenna said: “I think they all are. It’s got mentioned a lot in a nice way since I arrived here two years ago, it was mentioned from day one, probably.

“To have the game ahead of us now, one day away, is nice. It will be an occasion to enjoy but we all know that we’re only going to enjoy the day in the end if we get the result that we want.

“That’s been our focus. We’ll go and do everything we can to get that for ourselves and for the supporters as well.”

He added: “I think until you’re down here, one, you don’t realise how big and important Ipswich is in the county of Suffolk and how much it’s a one-team county, and how much interest and investment there is from the whole community towards the football club.

“And secondly how much the supporters care about the rivalry with Norwich. We’re all fully aware.

“I don’t think we can say it’s an extra motivation as such because I think this team has shown the demand that we’re 100 per cent invested and focused in every game and we can’t be any more than that.

“But it certainly adds an extra edge and it would certainly be a brilliant game to go and win, that’s for sure.”

Despite their mid-table position, the Canaries go into the derby on an improved run, unbeaten in three and having won four of their last six, losing only once, a 3-2 reverse at Watford last month having been two goals ahead.

On their travels this season, Norwich have won three, drawn two and lost five. They have won two of their last three on the road, the Watford defeat sandwiching wins at Cardiff, 3-2, and Bristol City, 2-1. Their other away victory was a 4-0 win at Huddersfield in August.

“They’re in good form,” McKenna reflected. “It’s two of the form teams in the league. They’ve scored a lot of goals, I think they’ve scored the third-most goals in the league [37, behind Town, 45, and Leicester, 41] and create a lot of chances and can give any team a lot of problems, and they have done even against the best teams in the league this season.

“We will show them the due respect in terms of their strengths that we do for every team and we’ve prepared as well as we possibly can.

“But beyond that then it’s about us, it’s our home stadium, it’s in front of our support, it’s for us to go out and implement our strengths and deliver a performance that the supporters can get right behind.”

Playing the game rather than the occasion is traditional advice from managers to their players ahead of matches like Saturday’s, but McKenna says he’s not needed to particularly impress that point.

“We spoke about it very briefly on Wednesday morning, ‘This is the context of the game’,” he said.

“We know it and just cracked on with our process and our preparation through Thursday and Friday as we normally do.

“This group has been together for a good amount of time now. In the second half of last season, every game seemed like it was the biggest game in decades and every game was a must-win and every game was massive.

“That’s a nice thing to live through but internally all we can do is then prepare as well as we can to play as well as we can and the outcome will be the outcome.

“That’s pretty well ingrained in this group, we’ve got really strong leadership, who believe in that, who have lived that and who spread that message to any other players in the group. It’s not something I’ve had to push or emphasise too much in the last few days.”

McKenna will be celebrating two years since his appointment on Saturday in which time a number of frustrating records have been ended, from rarely winning in live TV games to gaining victories at grounds where the Blues had had little success for many years.

Quizzed on whether winning tomorrow would end the greatest hoodoo of them all, McKenna laughed.

“It isn’t the biggest one of all! Of course, the derby one is huge, but when was the last promotion to the Premier League? In 2000, so 20-plus years, so that’s a big thing to tick off as well.

“When a club’s had a period where, and certainly too long a period for a club of this size and support base, there’s been more negative momentum than positive momentum, then there’s certainly records to be fixed.

“But, yes, we’ve enjoyed ticking a lot of those off. We know beating our nearest rivals tomorrow would be a massive thing for our supporters and we’d absolutely love to do that. We’re going to play them twice this year and we want to win both of them.

“I think it’s another one where we can only focus on our performance and do everything we can to win the game.

“We know that every game in this league is hard to win, every game that we win we have to enjoy.

“But there’s no getting away from it, if we manage to produce a performance that gets us a result tomorrow, it will be one to cherish for us in the dressing room and certainly for the supporters.”

The Northern Irishman says he and his staff have sought to treat the match like a regular fixture: “We try and give the right cues as a staff, keeping everything as normal as possible, our preparation as normal as possible and our messaging.

“But I think the dressing room are experienced and knowledgable enough to govern a lot of those things themselves at this stage.

“We lived through an experience last year with a large amount of this group with Ipswich Town pushing for what was a massive, massive priority, which was getting promoted back to the Championship in a really demanding season with incredibly high points totals and the need to win basically every game in the second half of the season, all of those things.

“Once you’ve lived through that experience, it’s not lip service when you say, ‘OK, we just need to focus on preparing the game well, focus on the performance, don’t get caught up in the occasion’ because we had that experience lots last season.

“Of course, this is a derby match, it’s different in different ways. It’s hard to compare a derby match with Exeter at home where you know if you win you get promoted. Both have different types of pressure on them but at the end of the day, both are games to enjoy.

“As managers or staff or players, we want to be involved in big games, full stadiums and games that mean a lot to the people we care about, and this is one of them. It’s something to really cherish and enjoy and go on and attack the game.”

Regarding the fans’ efforts to make the day special, including the reprise of the coach welcome from the Exeter match which confirmed promotion, he said: “It’s certainly appreciated. We got pretty good vibe from it the last time but it’s not the reason why we beat Exeter, if we’d have lost to Exeter it wouldn’t have been the reason. If we beat Norwich it won’t be the reason and if don’t beat Norwich it won’t be the reason.

“But it’s a lovely show of appreciation from the supporters. It adds an extra atmosphere to the game that the players and the staff hopefully can enjoy.

“But beyond that then, it’s being ready for the first minute and fully concentrating for the 90-plus minutes and trying to perform as well as we can.”

But he says there’s not been too much talk about the welcome: “Not really, we made the players aware of it. It was something really enjoyable in the build-up to the Exeter game, it added to the day.

“Does it change the performance one way or the other? I’m not sure it does, but it’s a show of appreciation from the supporters that means a lot to us and that we really appreciate and I think only strengthens the bond between players and supporters.

“It’s something to enjoy but it’s not something we’ve spoken about a lot or anything that has an impact really on the impact of the game.”

McKenna says the fans will have a big role to play once the game gets going: “They certainly will. The [message to them is the] same as the playing group really.

“The supporters have been fantastic and a big, big part of the excellent home record that we’ve had and that means turning up in their numbers as they do, bringing the noise as they do, getting right behind our players and being vocal in their support, especially when they see us trying to do the right things and playing the style we want to play in.

“Making it as difficult as they can for the opposition and trying to put them off their game. They’ve been doing that very well.

“And probably the other big bit is sticking together and sticking behind the players whatever way the game flows. In any match, things can turn in different directions and certainly in a derby match can do so.

“We’d love to go out and everything to go our way tomorrow and have an Exeter day where we score early and we score loads and everything is perfect, but football isn’t always like that.

“And what the supporters have been brilliant at this season, and the players the same, and Tuesday night was another example of it, is that when things happen, whenever something in the game goes against us, everyone’s stuck together, stayed calm, stuck to what we’re doing and what we believe in as a group and give it everything we’ve got for 90 minutes.

“The players have done that, the supporters have done that and let’s go and do that tomorrow, let’s go an bring the best of ourselves as a football club and see where it gets us.”

Reflecting on past derby memories from his time on the staff at Manchester United, McKenna reflected: “Mixed, but we had some really good ones. We had a really good record against an incredible Man City [side].

“They’re always brilliant to win. Apart from maybe decisive games which decide a league or decide a promotion or decide a big outcome, there’s nothing better than getting a win against your rivals and what that means to people in the club and especially what that means to the supporters. That’s the feeling that we’d absolutely love to have at three o’clock tomorrow.”

McKenna seems likely to return largely to the team which started last week’s 2-0 win at Middlesbrough having made five changes at Watford, where the Blues won 2-1, in midweek.

Vaclav Hladky will continue in goal with Leif Davis at left-back. At right-back, the Town boss has a dilemma with Brandon Williams, who was withdrawn at half-time at Vicarage Road with a knee problem, now fit.

Williams will hope to get the nod against his former loan club but local boy Clarke may well get to start.

Another academy product Woolfenden seems likely to return at the centre of the defence for Axel Tuanzebe alongside Cameron Burgess.

In central midfield, skipper Sam Morsy - still on nine bookings with a 10th leading to a two-match ban - will partner Massimo Luongo.

George Hirst will be the central striker with Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead behind him.

Norwich boss David Wagner says he has no new injury problems going into the match, but still has a handful of players unavailable.

“Ben Gibson is back in training next week, Hwang Ui-Jo will be back training by the end of the week, and Jacob Sørensen is quite close as well,” he told his club’s official website.

“Josh Sargent is making next week the last stages of fitness work and we expect him back in team training soon.”

Veteran Scotland international centre-half Grant Hanley is also on the way back from a hamstring injury.

Like McKenna, Wagner says he’s been made well aware of the significance of the derby.

“When I arrived, early on, everyone made it quite clear it is the most important game for the supporters,” he added. “You have to keep your head calm and use the fire in your heart.

“We are really looking forward to it, but you get three points for this game like every game before and after.

“I have no problem being the underdogs going into this game, it won't change our approach to it.

“When you grow up in the business, there are certain games that you know are bigger than others and now we have the opportunity to be part of it.”

Regarding Town’s exceptional start to the campaign, he reflected: “At the beginning of the season, no one expected their form but if you follow them, what they have done and how they play, it's no surprise they are second in the table.

“They deserve what they have achieved so far, but you want to test yourself against the best. You look forward to games when you can test yourself against the best.”

Historically, the teams are very closely matched, Town winning 42 (38 in the league), losing 41 (35) and drawing 22 (19).

The teams last met at Carrow Road in February 2019 when two second-half Teemu Pukki goals and Onel Hernandez’s early opener saw Norwich City beat the Blues 3-0.

Hernandez put the Canaries in front in the second minute of a first half which saw Blues boss Paul Lambert and Norwich head of performance Chris Domogalla red-carded after the teams and staffs clashed in the closing stages.

Relegation-bound Town were the better side for much of the second half before Pukki goals on 65 and 81 sealed the win for the top of the table Norfolk side, who eventually went on to win the title.

At Portman Road in the previous September, Gwion Edwards fired the Blues into a second-half lead but Moritz Leitner hit an equaliser for the Canaries as the game ended 1-1.

Edwards gave the Blues the lead with a deflected shot from the edge of the box on 57 but Leitner levelled with a low shot for the visitors 14 minutes later.

Town are without a win in 12 derbies - seven defeats, five draws - their last victory having been at Portman Road towards the end of Norwich’s 2008/09 Championship relegation season when they won 3-2 in what proved to be Jim Magilton’s final game as boss.

David Mooney put the Canaries in front before Town struck three times via Alan Quinn, Giovani Dos Santos (penalty) and Jon Stead with Sammy Clingan adding a consolation for the visitors towards the end, also from the spot.

The highest margin of East Anglian derby victory is 5-0, the Blues having won by that scoreline in 1946 - the first league meeting between the teams - 1977 and 1998.

Town’s biggest defeat was the 5-1 home reverse in April 2011, while the highest-scoring match was the Blues’ 4-3 away win at Carrow Road in February 1968.

Canaries midfielder Liam Gibbs came through the academy ranks at Town before turning down a new contract and crossing the border in the summer of 2021, the clubs having agreed compensation.

Bury St Edmunds-born Gibbs, whose family are Town supporters, made one League One appearance for the Blues, in addition to two EFL Trophy starts and one sub appearance.

Town loan full-back Williams spent 2021/22 with the Canaries, making 25 starts and four sub appearances.

The spell ended unhappily with the Manchester United man followed and abused by Canaries supporters after a game late in the season which ended in relegation, the defender subsequently making his thoughts on the matter on social media.

Blues assistant manager Martyn Pert is from Norwich and was a youth player with the Canaries.

Similarly, Town’s head of athletic performance Matt Allen was a schoolboy with the Canaries.

U21s coach David Wright had a spell coaching with the Norwich academy before returning to Portman Road, having also had a spell on loan at Carrow Road as a player prior to his playing stint with Town.

A number of other members of the club’s academy and off-field staff, including academy manager Dean Wright and academy head of recruitment Alex Kaufman, previously worked at Norwich.

Saturday’s referee is Josh Smith from Bedfordshire, who has shown 75 yellow cards and four red in 20 games so far this season.

Smith has already taken charge of three Town matches in 2023/24, most recently the 1-0 win at Bristol City at the end of October in which he yellow-carded Davis, Morsy, Hirst and Kayden Jackson.

He also refereed the 1-0 win at Southampton, in which he cautioned Williams and Jack Taylor.

Smith was also the man in the middle for the 2-0 home victory over Stoke City in which he yellow-carded Morsy, Hladky, Janoi Donacien and one of the visitors.

Last season, he refereed the 4-4 draw at Charlton in October in which he booked nine players - Morsy, Burns, Christian Walton, Dominic Ball, Tyreece John-Jules and four Addicks - as well as sending off home manager Ben Garner for taking his protests too far following the Blues’ second goal.

Before that, he was in charge of the 4-0 win at Portsmouth in October 2021 in which he cautioned Morsy, George Edmundson and two home players, one of them Marcus Harness.

Prior to that he was in control of the 2-2 home draw with the MK Dons in August 2021 in which he yellow-carded Woolfenden, Kane Vincent-Young and one visiting player.

His only other Town match was the 2-1 EFL Trophy defeat away at Exeter in January 2020 in which he again booked Woolfenden, as well as Toto Nsiala, Will Keane and one Grecian.

Squad from: Hladky, Walton, Williams, Clarke, Donacien, Davis, Woolfenden, Burgess, Edmundson, Baggott, Tuanzebe, Morsy, Luongo, Taylor, Ball, Humphreys, Burns, Jackson, Chaplin, Broadhead, Harness, Aluko, Hutchinson, Hirst, Ladapo, Jackson, Scarlett.

Photo: TWTD

MaySixth added 18:34 - Dec 15 Get into them and f**k them up.
2

UhlenbeekDownTheWing added 18:42 - Dec 15 I’d lean towards Clarke over Williams, but both are good options. Overarching feeling…it’s been a while…too long in fact. COYB
1

fifeblue added 18:44 - Dec 15 So here's a question for you: Would you trade a victory over Norwich with victories against Leeds and Leicester i.e. would you be happier with a win against Norwich and defeats against Leeds and Leicester or ice versa? I actually think that Ipswich will beat Norwich and Leicester and draw at Leeds.
0

ipswichboi added 19:10 - Dec 15 Fife, I'd take the wins over the two clubs we need to worry about, over them inbred peasants. However, let's win all fecking 3, starting with tomorrow
6

IpswichT62OldBoy added 19:32 - Dec 15 He speaks so well, "and secondly how much the supporters care about the rivalry with Norwich.", Beautifully understated,
2

thevoiceofreason added 20:35 - Dec 15 Kieran may not end up with a statue at Portman Road, primarily I suspect, due to his rapid rise. However; I think that every blues fan will watch his career with interest when ho moves on and with no shortage of admiration for the man. What a manager!
1

BrockleyBlue78 added 20:36 - Dec 15 It isn’t the biggest one of all! Of course, the derby one is huge, but when was the last promotion to the Premier League? In 2000, so 20-plus years, so that’s a big thing to tick off as well.
0

RobsonWark added 21:33 - Dec 15 Please play Brandon Williams and Axel Tuanzebe. We do not need Woolfenden at the centre of the defence despite him thinking he is World class rolling his foot over the ball at the back and slowing the game down. The weakest link in our team.
-4

SpiritOfJohn added 08:28 - Dec 16 Superb manager. Excellent interview. As the song says: "he knows exactly what we need"!
2

mathiemagic added 08:54 - Dec 16 @robsonwark - Definitely Tuanzebe over the Wolf any day of the week. Wolf has certainly come on leaps and bounds but he is still one trick too many when the simple ball will do and has at least one calamity moment in him most games he plays. We do not need any calamity's against the Nodge.
1

blueboy1981 added 08:54 - Dec 16 One can never count their Chickens by their Eggs - they have to Hatch first !! Hopefully we will by Mid Afternoon today.
0

Kingfisher49 added 10:02 - Dec 16 Kieron McKenna instills confidence and planning into the players before and during every game. And you can see the rewards by the league table and the standard of our play. If Norwich are to get anything from this game it will be by getting in the faces of town players. Trying to draw them from their normal game, and to upset their flowing football. Norwich would love a start stop game to get away from our winning formula style of football. The only reaction should be to ignore the niggles and play the football that has been obvious all season. Three points and at least a three goal win. COYB

0

dirtydingusmagee added 10:05 - Dec 16 COME ON YOU SUPERBLUES ! Just do it, we are the Pride of East Anglia .
1

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls