Town travel to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday aiming to record back-to-back wins for the first time since the end of their 2023/24 Championship promotion season.

The Blues ended their long wait for a home league victory by thrashing Sheffield United 5-0 at Portman Road last Friday, a result which sees them visit Ewood Park 14th in the Championship.

Town most recently recorded successive wins when they won 2-1 at Coventry and beat Huddersfield 2-0 at home to secure the points needed for sixth place and promotion to the Premier League.

A few weeks prior to that, in March 2024, they recorded their most recent back-to-back clean sheets when they hammered the Blades’ Steel City rivals Wednesday 6-0 at Portman Road, then won 1-0 away against Saturday’s opponents Blackburn.

Replicating that on Saturday would be most welcome, the Blues having gone 23 matches without a clean sheet, a new club record, until last weekend.

Rovers, who finished seventh last season, are currently 16th having picked up six points from their first five matches.

The Lancastrians have lost both their home games, 2-1 to Birmingham and 2-0 to Norwich City. They were also knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League One Bradford City following a 2-1 defeat. Blackburn last lost four in a row at Ewood Park as long ago as 1986.

While their home form has been poor, they have won their last two away games, 3-0 at Hull City and last week 1-0 at Watford, having started the season with a 1-0 defeat at West Brom.

Blues boss McKenna is anticipating a difficult match, as he believes will be the case every week during the season ahead.

“We’re expecting a tough game,” he said. “I don't think there’s going to be another category of game this year, to be honest. Every game is going to be tough. This is no exception.

“It’s a different Blackburn team than the one we faced a couple of years ago. Probably only a few of the same players, but a good manager [Valerien Ismael], an experienced manager at the level.

“Lots of good players, have pushed on with their international recruitment as well, so lots of players from different backgrounds.

“They’ve got some real qualities in the team, they’ve shown that in a couple of their games. Big win at Hull and a big win at Watford as well in their last two away games. 

“Of course, for every other team, every game is really competitive, so it’s hard to win back-to-back, but that's what we have to try to do this weekend. 

“There’s no doubt they’re a team with a good manager, good organisation, good individual players and they’re going to give us a big test this weekend.

Frenchman Ismael, who took charge at Ewood Park in February, has a reputation from his spells in charge of Barnsley, West Brom - where six current Blues were in his squad, Alex Palmer, Darnell Furlong, Dara O’Shea, Cedric Kipre, David Button and Conor Townsend - and Watford of fielding high-energy teams playing with great intensity and McKenna was asked whether that’s what he is anticipating on Saturday.

“I think we all have our sort of journeys as a manager and I don't know him well,” the Blues boss continued.

“I’ve spoken to Darnell, who has obviously played under him, and some other players, Conor Chaplin had a really good experience with him at Barnsley, so he’s done very well at a few different teams and I faced him at [Manchester] United with LASK as well.

“Those teams were typically back five with man-to-man pressure and wing-backs and very, very direct in their play.

“If you asked me about his Watford team or this Blackburn team, it’s a lot more zonal defending, more possession-based, more positional in their attacking play, so there’s certainly been some changes there in those teams from facing some of his earlier teams. But I don't know the background behind that.

“You just really prepare for the team ahead of you and they’ve had some good results, some good performances this year, so we’re trying to be as ready as we can. 

“Also knowing that there’s a fair chance that different teams will change at times during the season or change against us this year. Even last week with Sheffield United, there were some big differences from what they’ve been doing in the previous games. You always have to be ready for that, but we’ve got a fair idea what to expect. 

“But he’s shown he’s a versatile manager and they’ve got a versatile group as well who can do different things, so we need to be ready for different threats.”

As at Town, it was a summer of change at Ewood Park with a number of last season’s first-team regulars moving on, among them former Blues loanee Lewis Travis, who joined Derby, John Buckley, who left for Saudi club Al-Kholood, Joe Rankin-Costello, now at Charlton, Tyrhys Dolan, who moved to Espanyol, Andreas Weimann and Danny Baath, also both now with Derby, Callum Brittain, who departed for Middlesbrough, and Dom Hyam, who joined Wrexham.

In their stead have come Belgian winger Dion de Neve from KV Kortrijk, Portuguese midfielder Sidnei Tavares from Moreirense, Icelandic international striker Andri Gudjohnsen from KAA Gent in Belgium, Japanese international midfielder Ryoya Morishita from Legia Warsaw in Poland, Swedish midfielder Axel Henriksson from GAIS, right-back Lewis Miller from Hibs, Ryan Alebiosu, another right-back, from another Belgian side, KV Kortrijk, defender Sean McLoughlin from Hull City and loanee midfielders Taylor Gardner-Hickman from Birmingham City and Frenchman Moussa Baradji from Yverdon Sport in Switzerland.

“I think it’s pretty typical for the Championship, to be honest,” McKenna reflected. “I know we look at it and we feel like we’ve had a big turnaround. That’s also because we’ve lost some big, big players for the football club over the last few years. 

“If you look at the turnaround in Championship squads, I don’t know what the average is, but if you asked me to guess, I would say it’s nine, ten, some teams, 11, 12, 13 signings in a summer, which doesn’t tend to happen in the Premier League so often. But in the Championship, in League One and elsewhere, it’s a bit more common.

“They've had a fair old turnaround, they’re going into different markets with their recruitment, which lots of the Championship clubs are, so it means you’ve got some really talented players and we need to be ready.”

The Team

It would be little surprise if McKenna named the same XI that beat Sheffield United 5-0 last week with Palmer in goal behind a back four of, from the right, Furlong, skipper O’Shea, Jacob Greaves and Leif Davis.

Azor Matusiwa would be partnered by Jens Cajuste with Kasey McAteer, Chuba Akpom and hat-tick hero Jaden Philogene the trio ahead of them behind striker George Hirst.

Sammie Szmodics will be champing at the bit to get onto the field at some stage against a club where he had an impressive spell prior to this time with the Blues.

History

Town have had the upper hand on Rovers historically, winning 21 games (18 in the league), losing 16 (15) and drawing 18 (17).

The teams last met at Ewood Park in March 2024 when the Blues returned to the top of the Championship following a hard-fought 1-0 victory, their only win there in 12 visits, eight having ended in defeat.

Chaplin netted the game’s only goal in the ninth minute but Town were forced to defend resolutely to see out the three points in the second half as struggling Rovers, who felt wronged by referee Stuart Attwell after three goals were ruled out, put them under the cosh, while Town ought to have been awarded an early penalty.

At Portman Road in the preceding September, Massimo Luongo’s 79th-minute goal saw Town beat Rovers 4-3 and move back up to second in the Championship after a pulsating, end-to-end clash.

Harry Clarke gave the Blues the lead with his first and still only goal for the club on four but Blackburn debutant Arnor Sigurdsson levelled five minutes later.

Nathan Broadhead restored Town’s lead on 18 and Hirst made it 3-1 against his old loan club seven minutes later before Rovers hit back after the break through Harry Leonard and Szmodics on 52 and 65, prior to Luongo’s decisive strike 11 minutes from the end.

Familiar Faces

Blues forward Szmodics joined the club from Blackburn in the summer of 2024 after two very successful years at Ewood Park in which he scored 43 goals in 78 starts and 13 sub appearances, 33 of those goals in 2023/24 in which he carried off the Championship Golden Boot, was named the club’s Player of the Year and won his £9 million move to the Blues.

Striker Hirst was with Rovers on loan in the first half of 2022/23 but made only three starts and eight sub appearances without scoring before his spell was cut short and he joined Town on loan in January before making his move from Leicester permanent that summer.

Blues keeper Christian Walton spent the 2019/20 campaign on loan at Ewood Park, making 46 appearances.

Former Town frontman David Lowe is first-team coach at Blackburn. Lowe made 144 starts and 15 sub appearances for the Blues between 1987 and 1991, scoring 44 goals.

Another ex-Blues striker, Jordan Rhodes, was recently appointed loan manager at Ewood Park following his retirement. Rhodes was at Portman Road from 2005, when he joined the club as a 15-year-old from Barnsley for £5,000 after his father Andy became keeper-coach, until 2009 when he was controversially sold to Huddersfield by then-manager Roy Keane just as he was making his mark in the first team.

Officials

Saturday’s referee is Stephen Martin, his assistants Mark Dwyer and Johnathan Bickerdike, and the fourth official Zac Kennard-Kettle.

Staffordshire-based Martin has shown 21 yellow cards and no red in four games so far this season.

Martin’s last Town match was the 4-0 defeat at Leeds in December 2023 in which he booked Harry Clarke, Nathan Broadhead, Axel Tuanzebe, Dominic Ball and one home player.

Before that, he took control of the 2-2 home draw with Barnsley in August 2022 in which he disallowed a Marcus Harness goal which would have given the Blues a 3-1 lead, all but settling the match.

Sub Harness shook off Tykes’ defender Liam Kitching and slipped the ball past visitors’ keeper Brad Collins as he appeared to be pulled back.

However, Martin inexplicably disallowed the goal much to the frustration of the home crowd, fans and manager. Even Barnsley's official Twitter admitted it should have counted. The Tykes levelled not long afterwards.

Martin yellow-carded Chaplin, George Edmundson and four of the South Yorkshiremen during the game.

He was also in the middle for the 1-0 win against Gillingham at Portman Road in February 2022 in which he cautioned only one of the visitors.

Prior to that, he was in charge of the 2-1 home victory over Bristol Rovers in April the previous year in which he booked Tomas Holy, Aaron Drinan and one Pirate.

He previously refereed the 2-2 home draw with Blackpool in November 2019 in which he yellow-carded two of the visitors and no Blues.

Before that he was in charge of the 4-0 defeat at Preston in April 2019 in which he cautioned only Myles Kenlock.

Martin also refereed the 3-2 home defeat to Millwall on New Year’s Day the same year in which he booked just Lions sub Steve Morison and the 0-0 home draw with Bolton in September 2018 in which he red-carded Trotters’ defender Marc Wilson and yellow-carded Tayo Edun and Trevoh Chalobah.

Martin was at Portman Road for the 2-2 draw with Millwall in April 2018 in which he booked Mustapha Carayol, Jordan Spence, Stephen Gleeson and Martyn Waghorn and no Lions.

Previously he was in control of the 1-1 draw at Barnsley in March 2017 when Cole Skuse was shown the game’s only yellow card.

Two months earlier he had been in charge of the 1-1 draw at Preston in which he cautioned two home players and no Blues.

Martin also refereed the 1-0 defeat at Leeds in September 2016, in which he booked only Christophe Berra and Kevin Bru, and the 2-0 defeat at Brentford the previous month in which he yellow-carded Adam Webster.

He also officiated in the 1-0 home defeat to Rotherham in March that year, in which he booked Jonas Knudsen and one Miller, as well as the 2-1 home victory over Fulham on the opening day of 2014/15 in which he cautioned Berra, Tyrone Mings and Luke Hyam.

Martin refereed the 2-0 home victory over Brighton in September 2013, when he booked only one visiting player, and the 2-1 loss at Bristol City in the January of that year, in which he showed a single yellow card to one of the home side.

Squad From

Palmer, Walton, Button, Furlong, Johnson, Young, H Clarke, Davis, O’Shea (c), Greaves, Kipre, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Taylor, Nunez, Humphreys, J Clarke, Walle Egeli, Szmodics, Philogene, McAteer, Hirst, Akpom, Azon.

Photo: TWTD

keighleyblue added 17:47 - Sep 18 "Town most recently recorded successive wins when they won 2-1 at Coventry and beat Huddersfield 2-0 at home to secure the points needed for sixth place and promotion to the Premier League" Second place, surely?
0

Bazza8564 added 17:48 - Sep 18 Same side for me too, with our 5 "finishers", Nunez, Sindre, Jack C, Sammy and Ivan to come on 2nd half. As ive said elsewhere, thats a list thats gonna be the envy of others
0

armchaircritic59 added 19:16 - Sep 18 Bazza, that's some bench if it is the 5 that " finish ". In my opinion, 3 of them would walk into just about any other championship starting 11, and the other two may earn that tag eventually!
0

Blogs 297 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls