Journey of the Pilgrims
Ipswich is getting ready for what will be their longest away trip of the year—and it’s a familiar one at that.
The Blues have now been to Devon for four consecutive seasons, having done so in each of the previous three. Portman Road and Home Park are just 328 miles apart, and many Town supporters will know that it takes them little over five and a half hours each way on a good day.
When it comes to this one, there are definite benefits and drawbacks. Positively, the game isn’t being played on a Tuesday night, and unlike the previous season, it won’t be rescheduled for Sky Sports coverage, with a 12:30 pm kickoff. The team led by Kieran McKenna also did not have a midweek game, so they have plenty of time to rest before this match.
The fact that the team’s next away game is scheduled to be at Cardiff and that they have a tough home game against Bristol City on Tuesday night is really the only drawback. The previous away game was to Swansea. Ipswich is definitely covering a lot of ground.
For the first time, five on the bounce?
Town didn’t win five straight games until the end of the previous campaign. They crushed Exeter City 6-0 to round up their run, which began with a 6-0 thumping of Charlton Athletic. Not unpoetic, is it?
But McKenna’s team hasn’t yet succeeded in the Championship. They succeeded in winning four straight games in September, October, and December, but Huddersfield Town, Birmingham City, and Norwich City, respectively, prevented them from winning five in a row.
Ipswich, who defeated Millwall, Swansea City, Rotherham United, and Birmingham City in February, is riding high as they travel to Plymouth. Is this the point at which they reach five? More than 20 years have passed since they last accomplished that in the Championship at the beginning of the 2003–04 campaign.
As it stands, Preston North End, Leeds United, and Leicester City are the only teams to accomplish that feat this season.
Maintaining the tempo
The competition to promote to the Championship is fierce. Ipswich is discovering that the difficult way.
The Blues have played 34 games and scored 72 points, which is an incredible feat. They would have placed sixth on the table from the previous season with their present total. Sheffield United had just 64 points at this time in the season, despite winning automatic promotion the previous year.
The Blues are favored to finish in the top two, as they are now rated at 2/1 behind Leeds [2/5] and Leicester [1/25], although they are on pace to surpass the record points total achieved by a recently promoted team.
Although odds can indicate the possibility of something occurring, they have relatively little other meaning. Being positioned between three teams that competed in the Premier League the previous year, nobody anticipated Town to be in this position at this point in the season. Although it will be challenging, they should be able to keep up the pace
Both Southampton and Leeds have gone on extended unbeaten streaks this season; however, Southampton is currently five points behind while Leeds is tied with Ipswich in terms of points. Conversely, despite having lost the fewest games in the division, McKenna’s team hasn’t been able to regain their spot in the automatic promotion spots.
It seems improbable that four teams will play at this caliber in the Championship very soon.
One more challenging exam
Plymouth is a difficult nut to crack. The Blues have direct experience with this, having lost 2-1 on their last two visits to Home Park.
During the first game, Ryan Lowe was in charge of the Pilgrims. They were led to promotion by Steven Schumacher the previous season, and he was back in command this season. Now, Town will be up against an Ian Foster team in their third meeting.
Fears of relegation intensified following a 3-0 loss to West Brom at home on February 20. By then, Plymouth was five points above the drop zone in 17th place, having lost four of their previous five games in all competitions.
After making the arduous journey to Middlesbrough, they triumphed 2-0 to secure all three points. Though they haven’t completely left the woods, they have returned to their original course in time for Ipswich’s visit.
Social media hostility has escalated once more. It ought to depart for a fierce confrontation at Home Park.
Who is capable of playing?
This is the point of complexity.
In the 3-1 victory over Birmingham, Wes Burns, Nathan Broadhead, and Conor Chaplin were all substituted out due to injury. The first two will miss training due to strains in their muscles, but the latter is back in the saddle following “a bad gash” below his knee. McKenna will have to select the suitable substitutes.
It makes sense to replace Burns on the right with Omari Hutchinson. After netting a goal or providing an assist in his last five games, the Chelsea loanee is likely to have been included in the starting lineup.
Things get a little trickier on the left. Given that he scored last weekend, Jeremy Sarmiento could look like the best choice, but it’s evident that he hasn’t performed as well when he has started. Does McKenna give him credit for reaching his objective, or does he proceed with greater caution? Though he hasn’t played much in recent weeks, Marcus Harness seems like a safer choice because he is a dependable player who occasionally goes on a scorching run of form.
Alternatively, the first start might go to Ali Al-Hamadi. At AFC Wimbledon, the 21-year-old worked to Omar Bugiel’s left, and he may do the same with Kieffer Moore at Town. Maybe this would be a good moment to add him to the lineup
The major conundrum elsewhere is defense, where Harry Clarke ought to be able to play again. Axel Tuanzebe played right-back against Birmingham and was named Man of the Match; however, it is unclear if he will stick there, switch to center-back in front of Luke Woolfenden, or leave the club altogether. McKenna is unable to accommodate all of them, so one of the three will have to be left out.
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