Ipswich Town return to action this afternoon (3pm) as they take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. Alex Jones previews the clash.
Back on the road
Ipswich away days hit different in the Premier League.
The experience of being in this division and travelling to some of the biggest and best stadiums in Europe - or at least some new ones - is one of the most exciting things about getting promoted out of the Championship.
The City Ground, although nestled in a picturesque location just off the bank of the River Trent, probably ranks towards the bottom of the excitement scale. Town have been there numerous times before, and in recent memory too, so it’s not quite the same as visiting Manchester City or Tottenham.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it won’t be a great day out. Ipswich away games offer something new every time, whether it’s the gruelling draw at Brighton, the last-minute equaliser at Southampton, the goal-fest at Brentford or the heroic victory at Spurs.
That aforementioned win in North London will certainly give the Blues confidence heading into today’s game. They can travel away from Portman Road, play well and pick up points.
A different kind of run
Ipswich’s games have been split in a way that probably helps them. They rarely have an extended run of excruciatingly tough games, nor do they have an long period of ‘easier' matches. It swings between one and the other over the course of the season.
The last two games have been huge for Town. The experience of playing away at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and beating Ange Postecoglou’s side on their own patch gave their season a real shot in the arm. The extended build-up and drama surrounding the Man United game was intriguing, and the Blues could argue that they deserved all three points in that game.
As a player, it’s easier to get yourself up for games like that. Those are the games that you’ve dreamed about playing for years and will remember about the rest of your life. Can you get into that mindset when facing the likes of Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Wolves as well?
These next four games aren’t quite as glamorous, nor are they as difficult on paper, but going into them with that mentality will see Town get beaten. They have to be seen as an opportunity to start picking up some points ahead of Christmas.
Manager Kieran McKenna likened the matches against Liverpool and Man City to the recent clashes against Spurs and Man United. In his press conference, he drew parallels between this upcoming set of games and the defeats to West Ham, Everton and Brentford.
Town need to make sure they pick up more points in the next few weeks than they did back in October.
Previous meetings
This isn’t Ipswich’s first rodeo at the City Ground in the Premier League. They were in the top flight with Nottingham Forest in 1992/93 and 1994/95.
The Reds were relegated in that first campaign, losing 0-1 to Town on home soil and 2-1 at Portman Road. When they returned two seasons later, they earned a 1-0 win in Suffolk and eased to a 4-1 victory in NG2, which saw the Blues drop down to the second tier under George Burley.
Ipswich’s most recent win at the City Ground came almost exactly 25 years ago on December 5th, 1999, where Matt Holland’s 78th-minute strike was enough to seal all three points.
Since then, most of the meetings have come in the Championship. In fact, since 2010, all 18 meetings have been in the second division, with Ipswich winning four, drawing five and losing nine. Last minute equalisers from Michail Antonio and Liam Trotter in 2014 and 2015 respectively will haunt many Ipswich fans.
The two sides have played each other so often outside of the top flight that it almost feels weird when thinking of this as a Premier League game.
The last visit to Forest saw the hosts win 2-0 thanks to a first-half brace from Lewis Grabban in December 2018. They met again at Portman Road in March 2019, where Collin Quaner’s early goal was ruled out by Molla Wagué’s equaliser, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw. Ipswich were relegated to League One a few weeks later.
A surprise package
Three years after Ipswich fell into the third tier, Nottingham Forest earned promotion to the Premier League. They spent heavily and survived in their first two seasons, but only just, finishing 16th in 2022/23 and 17th in 2023/24.
They’ve been a breath of fresh air in a somewhat stale division. A new face with high ambitions and a bit of drama from time to time, but many outsiders tipped them for yet another relegation battle this year, with some going as far as predicting a bottom-three finish.
Everything has fallen nicely into place for the Reds, however. As Kieran McKenna highlighted, manager Nuno Espírito Santo - who was appointed in December 2023 - has now had a full pre-season to get his ideas across, as well as two transfer windows to bring in the players he wants.
They’ve been able to kick on as a result, but nobody expected them to be as good as they have been. Forest have taken 19 points from their first 12 games, winning five, drawing four and losing three.
The form of ex-Ipswich striker Chris Wood has been crucial, with the New Zealand international bagging eight goals already this season. McKenna is aware of his threat and has already shown his squad plenty of clips ahead of today’s game, although he’s wary of the other attackers that they’ll come up against too.
On the flip side, Forest have only won two of their six home matches this season and come into the game off the back of defeats to Newcastle United and Arsenal. This may be a good time to play them.
Who could start?
McKenna provided a fairly positive injury update in his pre-match press conference.
There will be late calls on Kalvin Phillips and Ben Johnson, but there are no new knocks in the squad following last week’s dramatic draw against Man United.
As a result, wholesale changes are unlikely, although Town will have one eye on Tuesday’s home match against Crystal Palace, which could prove pivotal as they look to avoid the drop back to the Championship.
The defence picks itself apart from left centre-back, where Jacob Greaves will be desperate to play again following the hamstring injury that has ruled him out since last month’s defeat to West Ham. However, Cameron Burgess has been in excellent form in his absence and it’d be exceptionally harsh to drop the Australian at this point.
Ahead of him, Jens Cajuste seems the most likely partner for Sam Morsy, particularly with question marks over Phillips’ fitness. The pair have worked well together in the last two games and McKenna will likely want to see more of it.
With Liam Delap nailed on to lead the line, the only other debate is the attacking trio behind the striker. Sammie Szmodics’ exceptional away performances mean that he’s unlikely to drop out, while Omari Hutchinson is one of the first names on the team sheet.
Jack Clarke will be desperate to start soon, but that’s probably more likely to happen against Crystal Palace than Nottingham Forest. Conor Chaplin will also be itching for more minutes, but if Hutchinson plays down the middle, it’ll likely be Wes Burns on the right, just like last weekend.
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