Our bite-sized look ahead to Ipswich Town’s visit to Bolton Wanderers.
When and where?
Tuesday, 8pm, Macron Stadium
What’s the team news?
Mick McCarthy has a midfield selection headache for this one, with Cole Skuse and Jonathan Douglas returning following impressive displays by Kevin Foley and Luke Hyam in the win over Nottingham Forest. Daryl Murphy is an outsider to make the bench.
For the hosts, Emile Heskey is a doubt after injuring his hip in the warm-up on Saturday, while David Wheather, keeper Ben Amos and Dorian Dervitte are also out.
Who is their manager?
Neil Lennon is the man in charge at Bolton these days, having had a rough time of things since moving back to English football following his highly successful spell with Celtic.
The Trotters are in the process of a board takeover, led by former player Dean Holdsworth, which saw a winding up petition adjourned earlier today in order to give them more time to complete the deal.
How have they been getting on so far this season?
It’s been a long hard season, they’re rock bottom, 10 points from safety and with a string of injuries which makes the prospect of staying up tough to imagine. They’ve only won four games all season.
What does the two sides’ form look like over the last five league games?
Bolton: L-D-L-L-L
Ipswich: L-L-L-W-W
Who has the best record in this fixture?
There have been 40 previous meetings between these two, with Ipswich winning 18, Bolton winning 13 and nine draws. Ipswich haven’t lost to Bolton for 10 years, with their last defeat at the Macron (Reebok Stadium) coming in the final days of relegation from the Premier League in 2002. Needing a win, the Blues were 4-0 down at the break after a treble from Fredi Bobic and one from Youri Djorkaeff.
What happened when they met earlier in the season?
Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Brett Pitman were on target as the Blues’ won 2-0 at Portman Road,
Who is the ref?
Mark Haywood last refereed an Ipswich game on Valentine’s Day 2015, when two Daryl Murphy goals helped the Blues beat Fulham 2-1. He’s taken charge of 25 games this season and has shown six red cards, including three in one game as Bristol Rovers beat Mansfield in League Two.
Who are the Bolton danger men?
Darren Pratley, Liam Trotter and Mark Davies are all dangerous midfield options for Lennon, while Gary Madine and Zach Clough are more than capable in attack. They may be bottom, but they still have players capable of causing problems.
What are the bookies saying?
Ipswich are favourites to get the win over the league’s bottom side at 7/5 with their hosts at 11/5.
The draw’s at 12/5 and, if you fancy a third successive 1-0 Ipswich win, that’s 13/2.
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