Town boss Kieran McKenna says there will be the inevitable changes to his team for Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie at home to Bristol Rovers but is excited by the prospect of going deep into the competition.

McKenna says the game brings a much-needed break from the Premier League after a busy spell in which the Blues had some tough fixtures and pulled off their very notable 2-0 victory over Chelsea at Portman Road.

“I think it comes at a good time in general, the third round of the FA Cup, because the Christmas period in England is so busy and whatever you're competing for in the league, whatever position you're in, it sort of consumes the focus over the Christmas period,” he said.

“We don't have a winter break in England, but a change is as good as a rest, a change in focus and a change in mindset towards doing well now in the FA Cup. 

“That's been refreshing over the last few days and it's a new competition to look forward to and a different type of opposition to prepare for.

“I think it usually comes around at a good time and with the schedule that we have, we feel it's a good time and there'll be changes to the team.

“Players will come in and have the opportunity to do well for themselves and do well for the team and hopefully deliver a good performance and make sure we're in the next round.”

McKenna is a big fan of the FA Cup, despite its status having been diminished in recent seasons and replays having been discarded this year other than in the qualifying stage with ties going straight to extra-time and then penalties.

“I think it's a special competition,” he said. “We can't get too far ahead of ourselves, we’ve got to make sure that we deliver a performance that gives us a chance to go through.

“I think if you can do that when you get the privilege of coming in at the third round, which the club didn't have for a few years, you're not 15 games away from a semi-final, you're a handful.

“I think in the third round, the first game for us, comes around at a good time in the season because there's a chance to have a break from the league fixtures. You're able to utilise the squad and get minutes into players who need the minutes.

“And that's a big priority in this fixture coming up. But if you can win one or two rounds in the competition, then everyone will start to dream a little bit and supporters and staff and players alike will all start to think about what's possible.

“But that's not for now. For now is preparing a performance, preparing the group of players who are going to go out there on Sunday to do their best to get through the next round.”

The possibility of going deep into the competition the club won for the only time in 1978 and facing some big ties is an attractive proposition but one not to be taken for granted.

“And that's why it is exciting,” the Town manager continued. “But you can't think about that going into the first game. It's the third round of the FA Cup, we know the nature of it and you have to be on your full guard to try and get the result that you need. 

“But for sure, when you come into the third round, the path to getting some really exciting games and occasions for the club isn't a very, very, very long path, but it's a tricky path. So we have to just take care of the first steps.”

Town, who have sold 27,000 tickets for Sunday's match, know all about that tricky path, National League South Maidstone having beaten the Blues 2-1 at Portman Road in one of the competition’s more remarkable recent afternoons a year ago.

“I think every opponent in the FA Cup is a dangerous opponent, to be honest,” McKenna reflected. “We had it last year ourselves and there are always upsets every year, and if you're the team who are the favourites for the game, then you're going to be facing a really motivated team.

“We've been in that position ourselves a couple of years ago in the FA Cup when we knocked Rotherham out, who were a division above us at that stage and had the two draws with Burnley, or the almost two draws with Burnley [the Clarets scored in the final minute of the replay at Turf Moor win 2-1], where we were the underdogs in FA Cup ties and shooting upwards, and that's a pretty exciting feeling. 

“I'm pretty certain Bristol Rovers would be really looking forward to this game in terms of an opportunity to showcase themselves and test themselves against a club that's done really well over the last few years, and again, we know what that feeling feels like. 

“So we have to be aware of that. There's always a threat in this competition because it's a one-off game and anything can happen in 90 minutes on the pitch. So we've got to control what we can control in the performance and make sure we do enough of the right things so we have a great chance to win the game.”

Despite the Blues having big Premier League games next week at home to Brighton, next Thursday, and Manchester City, on the following Sunday, McKenna says all thoughts have been on the Pirates fixture.

“From a game prep perspective, certainly, it's all been focused on Bristol Rovers,” he said. “I think because we haven't had a lot of training time with a busier Christmas schedule and then with a quick turnaround after this game to some important league games, in the early part of the week the focus has also been on just training really well as a group and working on ourselves and our principles on and off the ball, and what's important for us as a team anyway. 

“And then over the last day we've certainly honed in more specifically on Bristol Rovers, the threats they'll carry and how we're going to try to win the game.”

The Blues boss says the Rovers squad is familiar with the teams having met in the league only two seasons ago and then in the Carabao Cup last season.

One player he, and Town fans, know better than most is former Blues midfielder Grant Ward, who McKenna coached in the Tottenham academy prior to the 30-year-old's switch to Portman Road in the summer of 2016.

“They've got quite an experienced team and squad,” McKenna said. “We know almost all the players across the team as they have faced us over the last couple of seasons.

“They've got some top-end Championship and some Premier League experience in their squad, as well as Grant Ward, who I coached at Tottenham, where he played with Massimo [Luongo] as well. 

“Of course, he played here. Really, really good player, he had some bad luck in the middle portion of his career with injuries that held him back a little bit, but it's great to see him back over the last couple of seasons, playing pretty consistently. He is a very good player and a good lad, so it will be nice to see him on Sunday.”

Ward famously scored a hat-trick on his Town debut, coming off the bench at half-time in an opening-day 4-2 win against Barnsley to grab a treble, the first with his first touch for the club.

McKenna remembers the occasion having always taken the trouble to keep an eye on how the players he coached were progressing.

“You always did with players that you worked with from an academy point of view,” he said. “When you’re an academy coach, they’re games are the first you look for at the weekend, all the players that you've worked with. I remember Grant scoring the hat-trick.

“I think he's fondly remembered by everyone here. I think everyone remembers him as a good player and a good guy, so I'm sure he'll be looking forward to coming back to Portman Road as well.”

Town face a Bristol Rovers team in a state of flux, former Brighton full-back Inigo Calderon having taken over as head coach on Boxing Day following the dismissal of Matt Taylor

Since the change of boss, Rovers, who are 20th in League One, have lost two, 3-0 at Stevenage and 3-2 at home to Leyton Orient, before winning 1-0 at Cambridge United last weekend.

In the FA Cup, the Pirates beat near neighbours Weston-super-Mare 3-1 in round one after extra-time and Barnsley 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in round two at Oakwell.

“There have been big changes, and it's really common now when you've done quite a few games at one club, like I have, that clubs change a lot, unfortunately. So you face new managers a lot,” McKenna reflected.

“There's been quite a big change, to be honest. You can probably see it in the appointment, the direction that they wanted to go to. The new manager has come in and changed the style, changed the system, changed key things in the playing principles. 

“And they certainly have played some really good football and you can see they're clearly trying to go to a little bit more of a possession-based style and more of a technical style, and playing through the pitch a lot more.

“We know we're going to have to defend well. We know we're going to have to press well. And they've got some good players.

“They also have Chris Martin up front and they’ve also got big centre-halves. They’ve also got what we've experienced with League One teams, who are generally good at putting the ball into your box and putting you under pressure, and they've got a fantastic target man to do it.

“We know the players really well. They have some clear threats in the squad. It's clear that they're going through a change in playing style and we have to be ready for a couple of different aspects on Sunday.”

Turning to his goalkeeper selection, with Christian Walton having replaced Aro Muric for the last two league games and youngster Cieran Slicker another option, McKenna wouldn’t be drawn into announcing who would be selecting on Sunday.

“I certainly have an idea,” he said. “I'm not going to go down the path of naming my goalkeeper two days before every game.

“We've got three really good senior goalkeepers. Christian's played the last couple of league games and we'll do what we think is right for the team and what's right for that goalkeeper unit on Sunday.”

The Team

McKenna will probably start Muric against Rovers with Slicker perhaps the goalkeeper on the bench.


The Blues boss will probably change his entire XI having said new loanee Ben Godfrey will make his debut, presumably on the right of the centre of a four-man backline alongside Cameron Burgess, who was unlucky to be left out of the last three games.

Harry Clarke, who is a loan target of Sheffield Wednesday and other Championship clubs, and Conor Townsend, who would be making his home debut having previously only started the Carabao Cup tie at AFC Wimbledon and then as a sub in the Premier League at Brentford, will be at right-back and left-back respectively.

In the centre of midfield, Kalvin Phillips may well partner Massimo Luongo, who is over the illness which sidelined him over Christmas.

In the three ahead of them, the Blues currently have relatively limited options with Conor Chaplin, Sammie Szmodics, Omari Hutchinson and Chiedozie Ogbene all sidelined with injuries.

Wes Burns seems likely to be on the right and Jack Clarke on the left with Jack Taylor perhaps in the number 10 role. Ali Al-Hamadi seems set to start as the number nine with George Hirst set to make his return from his knee injury from the bench.

Even if the Jaden Philogene deal is done and dusted before Sunday’s game, the Blues would have had to have registered the Aston Villa forward before midday on Friday for him to be involved against the Gas.

The Opposition

Rovers boss Calderon was still to settle on whether to rotate his side for the visit to Portman Road at his Thursday press conference.

“To be fair we haven’t decided that yet,” the Spaniard said. “I said to the boys only the truth.

“I have so much belief in all of them that I’m not [going to] waste too much time thinking of who’s going to play because I prefer to give everyone a chance during the week and after pick the XI. That’s no problem for me.

“For me, it was most important what happened in the training sessions because I said that that’s the way I can see where the team is or what I can do mainly with the team.

“The game is just trying to get the best of each game but it’s through that… listen, it’s going to be a great test. Obviously, probably too difficult at the moment but I don’t have any fear, any worry at all. We go there to try to do the best and the best is maybe winning the game.”

Reflecting in the Blues’ rise from League One to the Premier League in the last couple of seasons, Calderon said: “I think it’s a good example of when you do things right you can achieve things that maybe it was not at the beginning of your ideas.

“That’s why I love football, that’s why I love coaching because if you do things right you can beat bigger clubs or clubs with more money.”

New signing Romaine Sawyers, who has joined the Pirates after leaving AFC Wimbledon following a short spell with the League Two side having faced the Blues previously in his career with Brentford, is expected to go straight into the squad.

Ex-Huddersfield, Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday right-back Jack Hunt is available again after a spell out injured.

Striker Promise Omochere is out with a hamstring injury, while midfielder Kamil Conteh has also been unavailable recently due to illness.

Loan duo Jake Garrett and Michael Forbes have returned to parent clubs Blackburn Rovers and West Ham respectively.

The Draw

The draw for round four of the Emirates FA Cup will be live on BBC One on Sunday at around 5pm at the end of the Arsenal-Manchester United tie. If the game goes to extra-time - with no replays in the competition this year after the qualifying rounds - then it will be put back until after the conclusion of the match.

Kelly Somers will be presenting with Martin Keown and Mark Schwarzer selecting the balls. Town and the Pirates will be ball number 30.

History

Historically, the clubs are well matched with Town having won more overall and Rovers most often in league competition. The Pirates have won 15 (15 in the league) games between the clubs, nine (seven) have been draws with with Town victorious on 18 (11) occasions.

The Blues and Rovers famously met in the competition in the fifth round in 1978 with Town on their way to winning the trophy.

Following a 2-2 draw in the snow at Eastville, the Blues won 3-0 at Portman Road in the replay.

Since then, the clubs have been drawn against one another three further times in the FA Cup. In the fifth round in 1979, the Blues won 6-1 at Portman Road, six years later Town were victorious 2-1 in the third round at Eastville.

The teams met at Rovers' current home the Memorial Stadium in 1998, again in the third round, and drew 1-1, again in snow, with the Blues winning the replay 1-0 at Portman Road.

The sides faced one another most recently in August 2023 in the first round of the Carabao Cup when the Blues progressed to round two for the first time in three years after goals from Taylor, on his debut, and Sone Aluko saw them to a 2-0 victory at Portman Road.

Taylor gave the Blues the lead in the 12th minute, then sub Aluko added the second on 76, the last goal of his professional career, as Town dominated the latter stages and might have scored more.

Prior to that, the teams met in League One in February the same year at the Memorial Stadium when Town dropped to fourth in the table following a frustrating 0-0 draw with Rovers.

The Blues dominated the first half but without creating enough opportunities, then after the break were scruffier with both sides having chances but with the home side going closest to breaking the deadlock when Scott Sinclair saw a goalbound effort turned against the post.

Following that match, Town went on an astonishing run of 13 wins out of 14 to secure promotion.

In September the previous year at Portman Road, Chaplin and Lee Evans were on target as Town comfortably beat nine-man Bristol Rovers 2-0 to stay top of League One.

Chaplin hit his sixth of the season on 24 in a brilliant Blues spell in the first half, then Evans added the second 10 minutes after the restart with the Pirates having Bobby Thomas and Alfie Kilgour dismissed in the latter stages.

Earlier in the half, Town had lost Burgess to the facial injury which saw him require surgery and the insertion of more than 30 screws.

Familiar Faces

Former Blues midfielder Ward joined Rovers in January 2023 after leaving Blackpool. The one-time Spurs academy scholar made 75 starts and 23 sub appearances for Town between August 2016 and May 2019, scoring eight times, including the hat-trick on his debut having come on as a half-time sub.

Ex-Blues centre-half James Wilson joined the Gas in the summer of 2023 after leaving Plymouth.

The Welshman, a teammate of Blues forward Burns at Bristol City early in his career, spent two years at Portman Road and was named the Town Player of the Year in 2020/21 before being released that summer along with all the other out of contract players with football on hold due to Covid. In total, he made 47 starts and two sub appearances, scoring twice.

Winger Luke Thomas was briefly on loan with Town in 2020/21, making four starts and one sub appearance.

Officials

Sunday’s referee is Oliver Langford with his assistants Mark Stevens and Alex James, and the fourth official James Oldham. There is no VAR at this stage of the FA Cup.

Langford, who hails from the West Midlands, has shown 55 yellow cards and no red in 15 games so far this season, all bar one Carabao Cup tie in the Championship.

His last Town match was the 2-1 defeat at Cardiff City in March in which Vaclav Hladky was the only player cautioned.

Before that, he was in charge of the 0-0 draw away against the MK Dons in February 2022 in which he yellow-carded Morsy, Dominic Thompson, Tyreeq Bakinson and three home players.

He also took control of the 1-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday in February 2019 in which he booked Flynn Downes and three Owls.

Prior to that he was in charge of the 3-2 victory at Swansea in October 2018 in which he booked Trevoh Chalobah, Andre Dozzell and one Swan.

Langford also refereed the March 2018 game between the Blues and Wednesday at Hillsborough, which Town won 2-1, when he yellow-carded Luke Chambers, Cameron Carter-Vickers and one Owl.

He was the man in the middle for the 2-1 home defeat to Derby at the end of December 2017 in which he cautioned only Adam Webster.

Langford refereed the 3-1 defeat at Cardiff in October of the same year when he booked Tommy Smith and one home player.

He also took control of the 2-0 home victory over Brentford two months earlier in which he booked Myles Kenlock and two Bees, and the 2-1 win at Burton over Easter 2017, cautioning only Freddie Sears, and also the 1-1 East Anglian derby draw at Carrow Road in February that year in which he again yellow-carded Sears as well as Jordan Spence.

Before that he was the man in the middle for the 2-0 home defeat to Fulham on Boxing Day 2016 in which he booked Tom Lawrence, David McGoldrick and one Cottager.

Langford whistled during the 2-0 home victory over Burton Albion in October of the same year in which he cautioned Cole Skuse and two Brewers.

Before that he refereed the 0-0 home draw with Charlton in April 2016, in which he yellow-carded Jonas Knudsen and two Addicks, and the 2-1 home defeat to Leicester in November 2013, in which he booked only Chambers.

The only other Town game he has officiated in was the 2-0 defeat at Leeds in the preceding April when David Norris, by then with the Whites, was the only player to have his name taken.

Squad From

Muric, Walton, Slicker, Davis, Townsend, Johnson, H Clarke, Godfrey, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Burgess, Greaves, Morsy, Cajuste, Phillips, Luongo, Taylor, J Clarke, Broadhead, Burns, Delap, Al-Hamadi.

TWTD

Linkboy13 added 18:36 - Jan 10 Apologise for going off the subject but there are rumours circulating that Manchester city are going to enforce the buy back clause and recall Liam Delap and then sell him for big money. If this is the case the 5 year contract that Delap signed is completely worth less . Keiran McKenna when questioned about it about a month ago said he was unaware of any buy back clause. The club need to come out and make a statement and clarify things because if this is the case technically Delap is not our player and whoever agreed to this buy back clause needs putting in their place.

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smithlarr added 18:39 - Jan 10 @Linkboy13 I don't know where you heard that but it is complete nonsense, no club can force the sale of another player like that.
7

Tractorboy58 added 19:21 - Jan 10 As I understand it the deal with Man City is that if we were to sell Delap then they would be able to buy at the max bid achieved from another buying club
9

dirtydingusmagee added 19:34 - Jan 10 Sorry linkboy didnt meam to mark you down .
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smithlarr added 19:35 - Jan 10 Yes, but that doesn't mean they can FORCE us to sell him, that would be absurd; the buy back clause is well known, anything else is just false information
4

dirtydingusmagee added 19:37 - Jan 10 Tractorboy , i dont know how it works bit that makes more sense imo
0

SickParrot added 21:20 - Jan 10 If Kieran does make 11 changes and fields a team of strangers another embarrassing cup exit is on the cards. Premier League survival is of course the main priority, so I have no problem with resting a few key players like Delap and Davis, but changing all 11 is disrespectful to the FA Cup and Bristol Rovers.
6

TimmyH added 21:38 - Jan 10 Action speaks louder than words Kieran, we've been here before (namely last year).
5

mariner added 23:19 - Jan 10 Ipswich 4-4-1-1: 1 Slicker - 2 Godfrey 3 Townsend 4 Woolfenden 5 Burgess - 6 Phillips 7 Taylor 8 Burns 11 J. Clarke - 10 Broadhead - 9 Ali (12 Hirst last 30 min) COYB
1

SquamishBlue added 23:26 - Jan 10 Clickbait nonsense and world class gibberish! Cannot force a sale of a player. Ever heard of that happening anywhere, ever? Didn't think so!
5

BeattiesBackPocket added 01:33 - Jan 11 Link boy they don’t need to make a statement as it’s absolute nonsense. The deal is the same as Villa had with hull over philogene. They have to match any bid by other clubs to trigger that clause and then if they meet that max bid they get first dibs. That’s it quite simple really not sure what people don’t get.
8

gosblue added 07:20 - Jan 11 Guys, just Google 'Release Clause' and stop arguing. If city have included a £30m release clause and buy back in the deal then there is nothing you or I can do about it. The argument should be, if it was included, why would we allow such a clause? Maybe it was the only way to get the deal done and who could have predicted how well he would perform? Maybe we saw it as an insurance policy should we be relegated. I guess we'll never know. Hopefully, come 1st Feb, we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

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BrockleyBlue78 added 07:23 - Jan 11 Lose 10-0 and concentrate on finishing 18th or above
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StockholmDave added 07:38 - Jan 11 It was reported that he has a release clause, if HE wants to leave, and a buy-back clause if WE want to sell him. I don’t think the latter is likely, and hope the former will never happen. I don’t think City are able to trigger either of the clauses.
0

muccletonjoe added 07:51 - Jan 11 27k tickets sold and we make 11 changes and get another embarrassing exit from a cup, which we have deservedly been dumped out of before. I won't be attending.
-5

MJR101 added 07:53 - Jan 11 Brockley - 17th would be preferable!
7

Bazza8564 added 09:22 - Jan 11 Without doubt the worst and most irrelevant set of comments yet. Delap isnt even mentioned in the article, is contracted here til 2029 and yes City have a matching clause, but that means nothing unless we decide we want to sell him! 18th would get us relegated, correct MJR And let KM pick the team he wants. If we win this round and go into the 4th round we can still use the squad depth to protect the PL position. We can do this in latter rounds. too if we want, why is going out of the cup so important to some people?. I support the club and I WILL be there tomorrow

11

FreddySteady added 09:45 - Jan 11 If Delap did go back to City he’d barely play. He’s half way through his first premier league season and yes he’s done very well but he’s hardly the finished article . Stay with us and he could be. Anyway, we should put a relatively strong team out and go for a decent cup run. Seems to have been years since we had one.
5

BobbyBell added 10:00 - Jan 11 Delap has said a few times that he loves playing. I personally don't think he would want to sit on a bench for more money. If he is happy here playing a style that's suits his game and under a manger and coaching staff who have improved him then no one can force him to leave.
3

BlueSkies added 12:53 - Jan 11 BrockleyBlue78 - it's fans like you that really make me despair.
3

pablo123 added 16:00 - Jan 11 Linkboy , that's not how it works pal , don't panic
0

Leejames99 added 16:59 - Jan 11 Delap is a Town player under contract and our asset, if say Arsenal offered 80 million then Man City can match it and have first option to buy him and then if we wanted to sell the choice be on the player and decide whether to go to Arsenal or back to City that's all and if City sold him at a later date for more money he be their player. It's exactly what Villa done with Phillogene and he should sack his agent who has got himself 2 comissions in 6 months. As it stands we bought Liam Delap he is an Ipswich Town player and asset and under contract he only goes if Town think money vs player worth it and if so Man City can match the accepted bid. They can't say sorry Ipswich we made a mistake we want Liam back to sell for more lol he is an Ipswich Town Player not a Man City player, can you imagine if that was how football transfers worked and you could recall players you sold, I think City would want Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers back first before Delap. Villa we're very clever what they did with Philogene All our players and new signings aside loans obviously are Town players and Town assets.

1

Bert added 18:51 - Jan 11 Fake news has infected TWTD.
0

BlueWax added 19:08 - Jan 11 It is my opinion that if we had beaten Maidstone last season then we wouldn't be in the prem now. Major changes wouldn't be disrespectful as we have much competition for places in the team who all want to play top flight football and with limited matches, this is their chance to stake a claim!
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sidewaysbackwards added 21:06 - Jan 11 Anyone else thinking that the reason why we haven’t seen Philogene yet is because it’s going to be a double signing???
2

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