Ipswich Town Women play their now annual Portman Road fixture on Saturday afternoon when Southampton visit for a WSL2 fixture (KO 12.30pm, live on YouTube).

The Blues, who have been watched by crowds in excess of 10,000 in their previous two games at the stadium, have made a strong start to 2026 under interim-manager David Wright but fell to their first WSL2 defeat since the former right-back took charge last week, losing 2-0 to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

Nevertheless, Town go into tomorrow’s showcase fixture off the bottom of the table in what’s developed into a four-way fight against relegation with one side set to drop out of the division and with games in hand on two of their three rivals. Southampton are sixth.

Reflecting on his time in charge overall, despite last week’s disappointment, Wright said: “It’s been great, hasn’t it? The girls, in terms of how I see the game, in terms of their attitude and application day in day out has been second to none.

“And I think if we look at it that way, the performance levels they’ve been able to achieve have been great.

“But we can’t relax, we’ve got to keep moving. We’ve got to keep being hungry to get better and better. We’re hungry to keep searching for those positive performances and positive results and I’m sure they’ll come.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s game on a bigger than usual stage, he added: “It’ll be great, everyone’s really looking forward to it. Hopefully, the ticket sales will keep going up and up and we’ll come out and put a great performance in and it’ll be a great day for everyone.”

The match will be the first WSL2 fixture hosted at Portman Road, illustrating how far the club has come with Wright paying tribute to his predecessor Joe Sheehan, who left his role at the turn of the year but remains working at the club.

“I think I’ve said this before, in terms of where we were a number of years ago, where Joe has taken it, he did an absolutely brilliant job and now we’re moving it forward from that, but the foundation that he set was great,” Wright continued.

“And coming here and playing here for the girls and the staff is great, and for the fans as well. That experience of coming to watch the girls at Portman Road. I’m really looking forward to the day.”

Asked whether the match could be a springboard for the remainder of the season, Wright reflected: “There’s nothing better for confidence than three points. We know how difficult it’s going to be. We know we’re going to have to perform at the levels that we have been performing and hopefully then the result takes care of itself.”

Wright himself is no stranger to Portman Road having played for the men’s team between January 2007 and June 2010, and having taken charge of academy sides there in latter years.

“I really enjoyed my time here, playing for this football club,” he said. “I was here for three and a half years and enjoyed every minute of it.

“I’ve stood in that dugout taking U18s games and U21s games, but this is different. But it’s nice because I’m comfortable in the stadium.

“In terms of the players, a lot of the players have played here before, they’ve been at the stadium, they’ve spent time at the stadium, so we should be comfortable in terms of turning up and performing at the level that we need to perform at.

“I’m sure they’ve discussed what Portman Road’s like. It’s probably a good thing, going to Forest and playing at the City Ground [last week] as well, so we go stadium, stadium, which is great for the girls, great experience for the girls.

“And now to come and play at Portman Road, it should be something they’re really looking forward to - playing at Portman Road, playing in front of a big crowd, playing front of parents and guardians and loved ones.

“It’s a nice pressure and it should be something we enjoy, and aren’t fearful of, and gives you the energy to then go and perform at the level that you can.”

Photo: TownTV