Town get their holiday fixtures up and running with a Boxing Day trip to face Millwall at the Den (KO 1pm).

The Blues face four games in 10 days with a visit to leaders Coventry next Monday, Oxford United, managerless following the sacking of ex-Lions boss Gary Rowett, at Portman Road on New Year’s Day and the Blues travelling to Portsmouth on Sunday 4th January.

In addition to the games, the players and staff will have a hectic training schedule to fit in around the festivities.

“We’ll be in each day and we’ll be in a little bit later on Christmas Day, and then travel down to London,” manager Kieran McKenna said.

“It’s a busy week, we know it. We spoke with the group at the start of the week. It’s one of the challenges of being in this profession, but it’s one of the privileges and there are an awful lot of privileges, and I'm sure in some stage in life all of us will have Christmases sitting at home watching telly, but this isn't going to be one of them. So, let’s enjoy it and make the most of it.”

Millwall, eighth last season, have made a strong start to the campaign but latterly have dropped to sixth, two points behind the Blues, having failed to win any of their last three, a run which followed three victories on the bounce.

The Lions were beaten 2-0 at Blackburn on Saturday, having lost 3-1 at home to Hull City a week earlier, a few days after a midweek 1-1 draw at Derby.

At the Den this season, they have won six, drawn one and lost four with the loss to the Tigers their only home defeat in the last seven, winning five.

That form puts them 12th in a Championship table based on home results alone, while only six sides have scored fewer goals on their own turf than their 13 and similarly just six teams have conceded more than the 15 they have shipped at the Den.

McKenna was asked whether he believes the Lions have a squad which is capable of finishing higher this season than they did last year and breaking into the play-off places.

“Honestly, I’m not paying any attention to anyone apart from our next opponent,” he said.
 
“They’re clearly a good team, very well managed, a tough opponent in many ways, especially at home and they’re in the top end of the table pretty much since the start of the season for good reasons.

“I’m sure they’ll have their ambitions this year and I’m sure, after a disappointing result last time out, they’re going to want to come out firing on Boxing Day.

“So we need to be ready for that and we need to match that, and then bring the best of ourselves.

“What their season looks like and everything like that, I don’t really have too much interest beyond Boxing Day until we face them again.”

Town were last at the Den in February 2024 on their way to promotion, running out 4-0 victors, although McKenna says the match wasn’t quite as one-sided as the scoreline suggests.

“I remember the game pretty well,” he recalled. “It was a difficult start, like you can often have in games, difficult periods.

“I think in the first 15 minutes we hardly made a pass and we spent a lot of time defending set plays in our box, but we came through that spell and got the first goal, and then kicked on well and you have to be able to do these things.

“It’s a different Millwall team now, a Millwall team having a really strong season. That was a Millwall team that was struggling at the time [they eventually finished 13th].

“I think in terms of tough places to go on Boxing Day, it's up there, so we have to be ready for the challenge ahead.”

The Lions are managed by Alex Neil, who has been in charge at the Den since December 2024 having also had spells in the Championship with Norwich, who he led to promotion through the play-offs in 2015, Preston, Sunderland and Stoke City.

“He’s done it with lots of different clubs, always gets a really good ethos in his teams,” McKenna said. “Sets them up really well and they’re hard to play against and hard to beat. A difficult opponent, no doubt.”

The Lions will be without forward Femi Azeez, who is suspended for three games having been red-carded in their recent defeat to Hull City with an appeal against the dismissal having been unsuccessful.

“He’s a good player,” McKenna said of the former Reading man. “I think everyone in the Championship now has squads. Sometimes we think we’re the only team who have subs.

“They’ve got really good depth in their forward positions, they’ve got lots of options, lots of different players who can play and the players who replace him are really talented players as well.

“They’ve got lots of fast, quick wingers of a similar profile, so we’ll be facing a strong Millwall side, we’ve got no doubts about that.”

The Lions will also be without former Blues midfielder Massimo Luongo, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in October.

“He was actually playing really, really well,” McKenna said. “He signed late, he managed to get in their team and was playing really well and doing all the Massimo things that he does.

“I think everyone here was disappointed to hear that news. I’ve not caught up with him in a while, so hopefully I will do around this fixture. A top guy and someone the Ipswich fans will never forget.”

The Team

McKenna has been tending to make fewer changes in recent games and may well stick to essentially the same team which beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at the weekend.

Christian Walton will continue in goal with Darnell Furlong, skipper Dara O’Shea, Cedric Kipre and Leif Davis the centre-halves.

In midfield, Azor Matusiwa continues to walk a suspension tightrope on nine bookings with a 10th leading to a two-match ban. Alongside the Dutchman, McKenna may opt to bring Jack Taylor in for Jens Cajuste.

Ahead of them, Sindre Walle Egeli could again start on the right, Jaden Philogene, still to score an away goal this season, despite bagging eight at home, on the left and Marcelino Nunez as the number 10.

McKenna has to choose between Ivan Azon and Chuba Akpom as the number nine with George Hirst out injured for a number of weeks with the groin issue he suffered against Wednesday. Azon replaced the Scotland international from the bench against the Owls and may well get the nod again, although Akpom will almost certainly get his chance as a number nine at some point over the holiday period.

The Opponents

Millwall, who yesterday announced a new front-of-shirt sponsor, Wiggett Group, following the termination of a deal with MyGuava, will be without midfielders Casper De Norre (calf), Dan Kelly (hamstring), Luke Cundle (shoulder), Derek Mazou-Sacko (ACL strain) and Will Smallbone (hamstring), and striker Josh Coburn (quad) in addition to the suspended Azeez and long-term absentee Luongo.

History

The sides are very closely matched historically, Town having won 23 games (19 in the league), Millwall 21 (20) and with 14 (14) having ended in draws.

The Blues have won five of the last eight meetings, drawing one and losing two - both in the 2018/19 relegation season - and have been victorious on three of their last four visits to the Den, scoring 11 goals.

Town last won on Boxing Day in the Championship in 2015 when they beat Brentford 4-2 at Griffin Park to briefly hit the top of the table. Since then, their only immediate post-Christmas success was a 3-0 victory over Oxford in 2022 in League One at Portman Road.

The Lions are unbeaten in their last four home Boxing Day fixtures, three wins and a draw.

The teams last met at the Den in the Championship in February 2024 when the Blues returned to winning ways with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Millwall, their biggest win of that season up to that point.

After the Lions had made a strong start, Nathan Broadhead netted the opener with a header on 24, then a Wes Harding own goal made it 2-0 eight minutes later.

Kieffer Moore made it 3-0 in first-half injury time and sub Ali Al-Hamadi netted the fourth from the spot, his first goal for the club in the dying moments of the second half.

At Portman Road in the preceding November, superb first-half goals from Conor Chaplin, future Lion Luongo and Broadhead saw Town to a comfortable 3-1 victory over Millwall and to within a point of Championship leaders Leicester City.

Chaplin got the Blues up and running in the fifth minute, Luongo added the second on 12 and Broadhead the third six minutes before the break with Town well worth their half-time lead.

In the second period, the Blues continued to dominate without adding to their lead, while the Lions pulled back a consolation against the run of play in the 78th minute through sub Nisbet.

Familiar Faces

Ex-Blues midfielder Luongo, a member of the back-to-back promotion-winning side, joined the Lions in the summer following his Town release. The Australian international made nine starts and two sub appearances before suffering his injury.

Third-choice Millwall keeper Joel Coleman was with the Blues during 2022/23 but without making an appearance having been named on the bench twice in the FA Cup.

Officials

Friday’s referee is Tim Robinson, his assistants Sian Massey-Ellis and Akil Howson, and the fourth official Paul Howard.

West Sussex-based Robinson’s most recent Town match was the 3-1 home defeat to West Ham in the Premier League on the final day of last season when Liam Delap and one Hammer were the only ones shown yellow cards.

Robinson was also in Suffolk for the 4-1 defeat to Tottenham in February, yellow-carding Jack Clarke, Ben Godfrey and one of the North Londoners.

Two months earlier, he was the official at the centre of controversy during the Leicester City match at Portman Road.

In the second half, the Blues, then 1-0 in front, were denied a penalty when Conor Chaplin was clearly fouled inside the area by Abdul Fatawu.

VAR opted not to overturn the penalty decision, despite Robinson appearing to have been unsighted when the incident took place, and to add insult to injury Kalvin Phillips was harshly dismissed for a second bookable offence in the aftermath.

The game eventually ended 1-1 with the visitors levelling in the fourth minute of injury time. In addition to Phillips’s two yellow cards, Robinson booked Cajuste, Hirst, Chaplin, Aro Muric and two Foxes.

Robinson was also in charge of the 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool on the opening day when he booked Wes Burns, Luke Woolfenden, Omari Hutchinson and one of the visitors.

Prior to that, the former PE teacher’s last Town match was the 2-1 home victory over Shrewsbury in November 2020 in which he cautioned only last-minute goalscorer Jack Lankester.

He was also in the middle for the away game at Sheffield United on the penultimate weekend of the 2018/19 season in which he yellow-carded Alan Judge and no one else as the Blades beat the Blues 2-0 to secure promotion.

Before that he was in the middle for the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at Portman Road in August 2019 in which he harshly red-carded loanee Tayo Edun on his Blues full league debut for two bookable offences, as well as cautioning Janoi Donacien and two visitors.

Robinson also refereed the 1-0 home defeat to Norwich City in October 2017 in which he cautioned only Luke Chambers, Flynn Downes and Jordan Spence.

A month earlier Robinson officiated during the 5-2 thrashing of Sunderland in which he booked Tristan Nydam and three Wearsiders.

Prior to that he took charge of 2017/18’s 1-0 opening day victory over Birmingham City when he yellow-carded Spence and one visitor.

The season before that he officiated in the 3-1 home win against Newcastle United in which he cautioned David McGoldrick, Tom Lawrence and one Magpie.

Robinson also refereed Town’s 1-0 success at Villa in February 2017, in which he booked only Jonas Knudsen and Toumani Diagouraga, and the 1-0 victory over Preston at Portman Road in August 2016, in which he cautioned Cole Skuse and one visiting player.

He was also in charge of the 1-0 win at Derby on the final day of 2015/16 and yellow-carded skipper Chambers, Adam McDonnell and two Rams.

Before that, he took control of the 2-1 home victory over Reading in February 2016 in which he booked Christophe Berra and two visiting players.

Robinson’s only other competitive Town game was the 2-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough in December 2015 in which he again cautioned Berra and two visitors.

Squad From

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

Photo: TWTD