IPSWICH TOWN PREVIEW

City head to Portman Road ahead of the International break

The Bluebirds aim to maintain top spot in the Npower Championship this Saturday when we face Ipswich Town at Portman Road (kick-off at 5.20pm) though other results earlier in the afternoon might temporarily shift ‘City from the summit.

-minute lead but Brighton substitute Will Buckley equalised for a 1-1 draw in the eightieth minute.^thMalky Mackay’s side went top on Tuesday night with that 2-1 home win against Birmingham City, while Ipswich came within ten minutes of winning at the-then leaders Brighton that same evening. On-loan Daryl Murphy had given Ipswich a 27

place with seven points from nine games, and have won only once in the Npower Championship so far – a 1-0 victory at Watford in their second League match. So it is now seven matches for them without a win, and their four home games to date have resulted in two draws and two defeats.^rdIpswich are currently in 23

It was a mid-table finish for Ipswich last season, and during the summer manager Paul Jewell signed goalkeeper Scott Loach from Watford (free), defender Luke Chambers from Nottingham Forest (free) and striker Paul Taylor from Peterborough United (£1,500,000). He currently has four players on loan – defender Danny Higginbotham from Stoke City, midfielder Guirane N’Daw from St. Etienne, midfielder Massimo Luongo from Tottenham, and striker Daryl Murphy from Celtic.

Goals have been scarce for Ipswich recently – just three in the last five games. Former Bluebird Michael Chopra has netted just two so far as has ex-Swansea City forward Jason Scotland. City’s visits to Portman Road have not been successful in the last three years. Following a 2-1 victory in 2008/09, there have been three consecutive defeats without City scoring (2009/10….0-2, 2010/11…..0-2, 2011/12….0-3).

And with Ipswich now unbeaten in their last two games including that 1-1 draw at Brighton in midweek, they will be looking to gain their first home win of the season.

Recent attendances at Portman Road have been between 16 and 17,000 for the last three games, while top crowd to date was 19,117 for the visit of Blackburn Rovers in mid-August. A similar attendance is expected on Saturday.

Scott Loach; Carlos Edwards, Danny Higginbothem, Luke Chambers, Aaron Cresswell; Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Guirane N’Daw, Andy Drury, Lee Martin; Daryl Murphy, Michael Chopra.The likely Ipswich line-up will be:

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