Keeping James Maddison quiet will be key if Ipswich Town are to end Norwich City’s East Anglian Derby dominance tomorrow - and Cole Skuse is up for the task.
England Under 21 star Maddison has been in top form for the Canaries this season, scoring 10 goals, attracting Premier League interest and settling the derby at Portman Road earlier in the season to ensure the Suffolk side’s nine-year winless run goes on.
Blues boss Mick McCarthy could opt to man mark the youngster in a bid to limit his impact and, if the manager does, midfielder Skuse is up for the job.
“He’s a fantastic player, a great signing for them and has put in a great run of performances,” Skuse said.
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“He’s been tipped to go on to bigger and better things and has been watched by a number of top division sides.
“It will be a tough ask for myself but if I’m asked to do a job then I will try and go about my business in the same way as when I’m asked to look after a player.
“I’ll be trying to stop him putting a footprint on the game.”
When asked about his plans for Maddison this weekend, McCarthy admitted he was pleased with the way his players handled him at Portman Road in October but accepted the midfielder’s moment of quality was ultimately too much.
“You can’t just let the better players roam around and be free because if you do it’s going to cause problems,” the Blues boss said.
“It was proved here, actually, because I thought we did a decent job on him and the one moment of quality, which came from Maddison, was the difference between the two teams.
“If we look after him man for man is another matter which we will see on Sunday.”
While Maddison holds the key for Norwich, Ipswich have their own derby specialist in the form of left back Jonas Knudsen.
The Dane scored in both games last season and cracked the inside of the post early in the reverse fixture this season, with Skuse revealing the defender has had his shooting boots on in training this week.
“Jonas has been top man at finishing this week, he always seems to do well against Norwich,” Skuse said.
“We’ve had a couple of shooting sessions and he’s done very well.”
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