U's have proved they can be Portman Road party poopers

Cambridge United players celebrate after Joe Ironside (9) had forced Dominic Thompson into an own goal to break the deadlock. (Image: (C) Copyright Stephen Waller)

HISTORY CAN'T REPEAT

Packed house, promotion rivals, coming off the back of two disappointing results, needing to take the lead three times... For so many reasons, Saturday's 3-2 home win against Portsmouth, played out on a fine autumnal day, was huge.

There's no time to dwell on that though. Three sleeps later and Cambridge United are in town.

You only need to rewind as far as April this year for evidence of why this is such a tricky fixture to walk into next.

Kieran McKenna's men had just comfortably beaten Plymouth 1-0 at Portman Road on a sun-soaked spring afternoon to extend an unbeaten run to 11 matches. Just like now, everyone was on a real high. A previously unlikely looking late charge into the play-off places now seemed a very real possibility. More than 26,000 tickets were sold for the next match.

And then Cambridge United came down the A14 to spoil the party.

McKenna had warned in the build up that the U's would be highly-motivated and that 'there is absolutely no opportunity to take our eye off the ball or ease off our intensity even one per cent'.

That warning wasn't heeded. Ipswich started sloppily, conceded at a set-piece in the 56th minute and were subsequently left frustrated by time-wasting tactics.

Ipswich, having let a 2-0 lead slip at The Abbey Stadium under previous boss Paul Cook, had tripped on yet another newly-promoted side banana skin.

TAKE ANOTHER STEP

The good news is that Ipswich have been doing a fine job of rectifying past problems.

Last season's slow start is a distant memory. Eleven games into 21/22 there were 13 points on the board. Town currently have 24.

Last season there were struggles to compete against physical sides and an inability to kill off teams when on top. Set-pieces were a major issue and there was an imbalance to the side.

There have been improvements on all those fronts. When you judge it on a like-for-like fixture basis, Ipswich are already a staggering 20 points up.

Dominic Thompson and Tom Carroll both started the last time Cambridge came to town. It will be Leif Davis and Lee Evans in those positions today.

The U's should find they are taking on a far superior Ipswich team this time around.

OPPOSITION LOWDOWN

Cambridge finished 14th in their first season back at third-tier level. A good start to this campaign saw manager Mark Bonner interviewed by Championship club Rotherham recently. The 36-year-old opted to stay at The Abbey Stadium though, stating he is only halfway through a project, and the Millers instead turned to Exeter manager Matt Taylor to replace Paul Warne.

Jack Iredale (Bolton) and Wes Hoolahan (retired) were Cambridge's only major departures over the summer. Only one of their five summer signings, centre-back Zeno Rossi, has started more than one league game so far. They are basically the same team as last season.

Former Town loanee Paul Digby remains the midfield captain. Ipswich academy graduate Jack Lankester, who didn't feature in either game against his former club last season, has started the last two. It remains to be seen if he keeps his place ahead of Harvey Knibbs in the No.10 role tonight.

Cambridge got themselves in the top-six early on this season, but have slipped to 10th following three defeats in their last four.

The only team currently in the top half they have taken points off so far is Exeter (2-1 away win). The only team they have beaten on the road is rock-bottom Morecambe.

Portsmouth (4-1 at Fratton Park), Barnsley (3-0 at The Abbey) and Derby (2-0 at The Abbey) have all beaten the U's.

STICK OR TWIST?

This is only the second time this season that Ipswich have played Saturday-Tuesday in the league.

The first time was MK Dons at home followed by Burton away. McKenna made three changes to his team after a 3-0 home win. Kayden Jackson for Wes Burns (groin) was enforced, while Greg Leigh and Sone Aluko for Leif Davis and Conor Chaplin was tactical.

Leigh and Aluko, both injured, are no longer rotation options of course. But McKenna can still freshen things up should he choose to do so.

Ladapo for Tyreece John-Jules looks a strong possibility. The former scored with his first touch at the weekend to make it three goals in three games across all competitions.

Could this be Kyle Edwards' first league start since Wigan away under John McGreal's caretaker management last December? He made a real difference off the bench at the weekend, setting up the winner after replacing Marcus Harness. McKenna says the exciting winger deserved his chance after 'putting together his best couple of weeks training consecutively by far in my time at the club'.

Experienced duo Richard Keogh and Dominic Ball, meanwhile, are waiting patiently for their full league debuts.