Our bite-sized guide to Ipswich Town’s trip to Ewood Park to take on Blackburn Rovers
When and where?
Saturday, 3pm at Ewood Park
What’s the team news?
Midfielders Teddy Bishop, Giles Coke and Luke Hyam remain on the sidelines for the Blues but, other than that, Mick McCarthy has a full squad to pick from. Fode Koita, Tom Lawrence and Danny Guthrie are all doubts for Rovers, but Chris Taylor is likely to return in midfield.
Who is their manager?
Gary Bowyer is now two years until his time as Rovers boss, having twice acted as caretaker, and is doing a decent job under tough financial circumstances at Ewood. He still has Jordan Rhodes but saw star striker Rudy Gestede depart in the summer, which has made life harder. He’s won 35 of his 111 games in charge.
How have they been getting on so far this season?
Rovers have been hard to beat, having drawn five times in the Championship already, but they’ve only managed one win all season. That came at home to Charlton on September 19, with the Ewood side sitting 18th in the Championship.
Who has the best record in this fixture?
It’s all fairly even between these two sides from their 47 meetings, with Ipswich winning 17, Blackburn 14 and 16 draws.
What happened last time they met?
The Blues went to Lancashire on the final day of last season, looking to secure the point they needed to earn place in the play-offs with a variety if permutations possible. Things started perfectly, with Daryl Murphy thumping home a corner to give the visitors and early lead, but they found themselves 3-1 down as time ticked down. Murphy scored again from the spot and, although Town couldn’t find an equaliser, Derby’s loss at home to Reading meant they were in the end of season showdown.
Who is the ref?
Premier League referee Andre Marriner hasn’t taken charge of an Ipswich game since the final day of the 2007/08 season, but is the man in the middle for this one. That day Alan Lee’s goal was enough for the Blues to beat Hull City 1-0, although the Blues missed out on the play-offs by a point.
Who is Rovers’ danger man?
Need you really ask? It’s former Ipswich striker Jordan Rhodes, who has scored five in his last four, finding superb form just in time to face his former club.
What are the bookies saying?
Blackburn are favourites at 11/10 with Ipswich 9/4 and the draw 5/2. Ominously, Rhodes is by far the favourite to open the scoring at 7/2.
Anything else worth knowing?
You have to go back a fair old while to find Town’s last league win at Ewood, to August 1991 in fact. Chris Kiwomya and Paul Goddard scored the goals in a 2-1, but three points hasn’t been brought back to Suffolk since. There was, however, a nice little FA Cup triumph in 1996, where Paul Mason’s goal beat the reigning Premier League champions 1-0 in a third round replay.
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