Town boss Kieran McKenna says it took an incredible team effort to beat Chelsea 2-0 at Portman Road in December and it will require the same again if the Blues are to pull off their first double of the season at Stamford Bridge on Sunday (KO 2pm).

Although Town’s campaign appears, barring a miracle, to be over in terms of staying in the Premier League, McKenna is looking for his team to finish the campaign strongly in their final seven matches.

The visit to Chelsea, currently fourth, is the first of three games against teams in the Premier League’s top five with second-placed Arsenal visiting in a week’s time and a trip to Newcastle United, fifth, the following Saturday.

The Blues’ only home win of the season came against the West Londoners just after Christmas with striker Liam Delap’s display that night presumably playing a role in Chelsea’s strong interest in the England U21 international, who won a penalty which he scored, then set-up Omari Hutchinson’s clincher in the second half against his old club.

Quizzed on Delap’s performance that night, when he gave the visitors’ backline a tough time throughout, McKenna was quick to point out that the former Manchester City man wasn’t the only one to impress.

“He was very good, the whole team was,” the Town manager said. “It was an incredible night, we haven’t had as many of them as we would have liked but as a newly promoted team you’re not guaranteed to win many games over the season.

“To beat big teams is really difficult, so to beat that Chelsea team with the strength that they have and how good they are - well coached, fantastic individuals and an incredibly built squad - took an incredible team effort and it certainly was that. It’s going to have to be the same on Sunday.”

Chelsea were in action in the Europa Conference League in Poland on Thursday evening, beating Legia Warsaw 3-0, and were able to make five changes from the XI which drew 0-0 at Brentford last Sunday, illustrating the strength of the squad they have assembled.

“I think it’s clear they’ve built a really formidable squad, a young, talented, athletic squad and they can make a lot of changes,” McKenna continued.

“I don’t know how many they made for the game yesterday evening but I think it’ll be a very different starting XI on Saturday and they made some changes for Brentford.

“We know we’re going to face a pretty fresh and pretty close-to-full-strength Chelsea, which is a great challenge and a big challenge for us to take on, but that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

When they faced the Blues in December, Chelsea were looking genuine contenders for the title before dropping away following their loss at Portman Road, winning only once in January.

Their form has continued to be inconsistent. On the preceding Thursday prior to the draw at Brentford, they beat Spurs 1-0 at Stamford Bridge but the previous Saturday they lost 1-0 at Arsenal.

But while Chelsea are without a win in eight in the Premier League away from home, at Stamford Bridge their form has been much better. They have won their last five in the Premier League and overall their record on their own turf reads nine, drawn four, lost two.

Their most recent league defeat at Stamford Bridge was the 2-1 reverse to Fulham on Boxing Day, four days before their loss to the Blues at Portman Road.

Asked what he believes happened to stall Enzo Maresca’s team’s title challenge, McKenna said: “I’d imagine if Enzo was sitting here he’d say ‘what happened?’ is a little bit harsh. It’s a Premier League season, it’s really hard to be at your best across 38 games. They’ve had injuries in that time as well.

“Certainly watching some of their recent games, as we have, they’re still a very, very good side and they’ve got pretty much all their players now back to full health and they’re certainly one of the best teams in the division, and I think they’re going to be one of the best teams in the division for years to come.

“The spell after January when they dropped some more points after we played them, I can’t speak for because we were busy studying other teams, but having watched them lately, they’re certainly a very, very good side, which is why they’ve picked up a good points total across the season.

“They’ve shown that they can compete with the very best teams in the league and, as I say, with the squad that they’ve built they’re going to stay at the top echelons for a long time.”

The Team

McKenna may look to tweak his team a little after last week’s home loss to Wolves and also says there are a couple of players, including striker Delap, who have been suffering with knocks from the game against the Old Gold.

Assuming their fit, Alex Palmer will continue in goal with Axel Tuanzebe at right-back and Leif Davis probably returning at left-back having been a sub last weekend after missing the Bournemouth match with a leg injury. Dara O’Shea and Cameron Burgess look set to continue as the centre-halves.

In central midfield, Kalvin Phillips may return alongside Jens Cajuste having been on the bench for the last two matches after needing more than 20 stitches to a foot injury suffered in the Nottingham Forest match. If that’s the case, skipper Sam Morsy will drop back to the bench with O’Shea taking the armband.

In the three ahead of them, McKenna may well stick with the trio he started in the last two matches with Ben Johnson on the right, Nathan Broadhead in the centre and Julio Enciso on the left with Hutchinson set to miss out against his old club due to a hamstring problem.

If fit, Delap, who McKenna said missed training earlier in the week, will be in the XI. Otherwise George Hirst will make his second Premier League start of the season.

The Opposition

Enzo Maresca’s pre-match press conference inevitably focused on Delap, who the former Leicester boss knows well from coaching him with Manchester City’s U21s, with Chelsea the front-runners for his signature alongside Manchester United.

“In terms of numbers, he’s doing fantastic. I think he’s scored 12 [Premier League] goals already,” the Italian said. “It’s not just in terms of his numbers. The way he plays and fights and is always there.

“But he’s an Ipswich player. He’s an enemy on Sunday because we need to beat them, and then after the game I wish him all the best for the future.”

Maresca believes some of the comparisons made by pundits this season having been a little premature.

“To compare Liam with Harry Kane and Erling Haaland, I think it’s a bit early. But, for sure, in terms of style he’s that kind of player. They are all real nines. They are nines inside the box.

“But we also have a good nine [in Nico Jackson]. He’s doing well since we started. Unfortunately, we’ve missed him and sometimes you need to miss players to realise how important they are for you.

“With Nico, we are a completely different team compared to when he was injured. We are happy with Nico as our striker.”

He added: “My perfect number nine is exactly Nico Jackson. We already have a number nine. It’s not summer now.

“We are happy with Nico. And about next season, it’s not the moment [to talk about transfers].”

Reflecting on the defeat at Portman Road, Maresca continued: “On that day, they had more desire than us to get the three points. I still remember the game and even if we had many chances to score, they defended really well.

“They are a good team, I know that from last year. They are a very good team, with a good manager. The Premier League is for sure different, but they are doing well.

“Kieran has been doing a fantastic job for three years. Against Leicester last year, we were winning both games home and away, but in added time they scored goals to draw.

“From League One, the Championship and the Premier League, they are there. So congratulations to them and Kieran, because they are doing a fantastic job. Hopefully, we can do our best to win the game.”

Chelsea are without Wesley Fofana due to a thigh injury, which has ruled him out for the rest of the season, while Omari Kellerman is also sidelined until 2025/26 with a hamstring issue.

Romeo Lavia looks set to miss out with a muscle problem, while Marc Guiu is closing in on a return to action following a hamstring injury but Sunday is likely to come too soon.

Ukrainian international winger Mykhailo Mudryk remains suspended after testing positive for a banned substance.

History

Chelsea have had much the better of Town over the years, winning 23 games (19 in the league), losing 10 (10) and drawing 11 (10).

The Blues most recently won at Stamford Bridge in May 1979 when Bobby Robson’s side edged a final-day-of-the-season game 3-2 with Alan Brazil netting twice and Clive Woods once, completing Town’s last double over the West Londoners.

Since then, Town have won only four games home and away against Chelsea in 21 meetings in all competitions. Prior to December’s win, the Blues had gone 10 games without a victory against Sunday’s opponents.

At the end of December at Portman Road, Delap and Hutchinson were on target as Town ended 2024 by beating Chelsea 2-0 at Portman Road to claim their first home win in the Premier League since April 2002.

Delap netted the Blues’ first penalty of the season in the 12th minute having been fouled by visitors’ keeper Filip Jorgensen, then Hutchinson sealed a vital three points against his old club in the 53rd minute.

The teams last met at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup third round in January 2011 when the managerless Blues - Roy Keane having been sacked earlier in the week with his assistant Ian ‘Charlie’ McParland in caretaker charge - were thrashed 7-0, Town’s record defeat in the competition.

After an evenly balanced first half hour, the cup holders and Premier League champions went on the rampage with the goals coming from Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge (2), Carlos Edwards (OG), Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard (2).

The sides also met at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup fourth round in 2009 when Jim Magilton’s team were beaten 3-1.

Superb second-half free-kicks from Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard saw Chelsea to a 3-1 victory, the Blues having matched the Champions League finalists for spells with Alex Bruce equalising Ballack's opener before the break.

The most recent league meeting at Stamford Bridge was in November 2001 when a last-gasp wonder goal from Sam Dalla Bona won the three points for Chelsea, the game ending 2-1, just when Town fans were starting to celebrate a well-won point.

A first-half goal from Gianfranco Zola had put Chelsea deservedly ahead but, as Town improved in the second, Marcus Stewart equalised with a penalty.

Familiar Faces

Hutchinson joined the Blues on a permanent basis from Chelsea for an initial £18 million in the summer, making him the club’s record signing, having spent last season on loan at Portman Road.

The forward joined Chelsea in June 2022 from Arsenal and made two sub appearances - one in the Premier League, one in the FA Cup - while at Stamford Bridge.

Officials

Sunday’s referee is Stuart Attwell with his assistants Constantine Hatzidakis and Natalie Aspinall and the fourth official Simon Hooper. The VAR official is Michael Salisbury and his assistant Nick Hopton.

Warwickshire-based Attwell has shown 103 yellow cards and two red in 25 games so far this season.

His most recent Town match was the 4-0 home defeat to Newcastle in which he yellow-carded Morsy and Ali Al-Hamadi.

He was also the VAR official in the Leicester match in which the Blues had a blatant penalty not given either on the field or after review when Chaplin was clattered into by Abdul Fatawu.

Earlier in the season, Attwell refereed the 2-2 home draw with Aston Villa, cautioning Morsy, Delap, Jacob Greaves, Axel Tuanzebe and one of the visitors.

In March, he was in the middle for the 1-0 win at Blackburn in which he ruled out three Rovers goals and booked Davis, Massimo Luongo, Kayden Jackson and two home players.

Before that, Attwell was in control of the 2-0 defeat at Bristol City in December 2016 in which he awarded the Robins a controversial penalty, converted by Lee Tomlin, after Bartosz Bialkowski had been adjudged to have fouled Tammy Abraham, and booked two Robins and no Blues.

Three months earlier, he refereed Town’s 1-0 win at Derby in which he showed yellow cards to Christophe Berra, Cole Skuse, Brett Pitman, Luke Varney and no Rams.

Prior to that he was in charge of the 1-0 win at Brighton in December 2015 in which he booked Kevin Bru and one home player.

Before that, he was the official taking control of the 1-1 draw at Wolves in April of the same year in which he booked Jay Tabb, Jonny Parr and one home player.

He also refereed the 2-1 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday in February 2015 in which he booked only one of the visitors.

Attwell was also the referee during Mick McCarthy’s first game as Town manager, the 1-0 win at Birmingham in November 2012.

He was also in charge of the famous snow match against Leicester at Portman Road in December 2010, which the Blues won 3-0 and in which Rory Fallon and one of the visitors were booked.

The previous season, Attwell awarded Town what looked a harsh penalty when Damien Delaney was man-handled as a long throw came into the box in the 1-1 draw with West Brom at Portman Road, Grant Leadbitter, who was also booked along with Arran Lee-Barrett and three of the visitors, netting the spot-kick.

Attwell’s first Town match was the 3-1 win at QPR in February 2009 in which Ben Thatcher was the only player yellow-carded.

Squad From

Palmer, Walton, Slicker, Davis, Townsend, Johnson, Tuanzebe, Godfrey, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Burgess, Greaves, Morsy, Cajuste, Phillips, Luongo, Taylor, Philogene, Clarke, Enciso, Chaplin, Broadhead, Delap, Hirst.

TWTD

armchaircritic59 added 23:44 - Apr 11 I'm not so worried about actual results over the remaining few matches. I just want all the players to go out and be the best versions of themselves they can be. You can ask no more of anyone in any walk of life than that. It's extremely unlikely to save the season, but it might give everyone a late season lift.
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Normandyblue added 22:18 - Apr 12 He’s right about .KM though, I think some of the posters on here have forgotten how lucky we are to have him, if we manage to keep hold of him next season, I suspect they will have their memories jogged.
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Bluewhiteboy added 10:47 - Apr 13 Agree results no longer matter, so please let's start playing those that will be here next season. No need to some of those marquise loan signings. Be nice to introduce some of the youth if even from bench.
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Radlett_blue added 13:12 - Apr 13 It will be hard to motivate the players for a tough away game against a CL contender with Town virtually relegated. Easy to see a thrashing if we concede early & with Attwell as the referee, a good chance of a Town red card.
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Linkboy13 added 13:36 - Apr 13 How can we experiment for next season when we don't know who will be here and who won't. If we did and got thrashed McKenna would get hammered on here for doing so. McKenna will stay professional and pick the best team he thinks will get a result it's only fair on the fans who have travelled to the game .
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