Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy knows his side’s match at rock-bottom Blackpool tomorrow just got a whole lot harder.

The Tangerines dismissed manager Jose Riga on Monday, replacing him with recently sacked Birmingham City boss Lee Clark yesterday lunchtime.

The Lancashire outfit may have claimed just six points from their opening 14 league matches, but McCarthy knows that teams generally get boosted by the arrival of a new boss.

Indeed, he won his first game in charge of Ipswich when inheriting a side that were bottom of the table. And that victory came against Clark’s Birmingham.

“I hope there’s no irony going on there,” said McCarthy, who celebrates his second anniversary as Blues boss tomorrow.

“He’ll have seen the response I got at Birmingham two years ago and I guess he’ll be looking for the same sort of response I got.

“Let’s hope he doesn’t.”

He continued: “The players you pick for your first game, that gives them a boost.

“They’ll run around and give that little bit extra. It’s maybe made it that little bit tougher for us.

“I’ve been watching the Blackpool games and they’re no mugs by any stretch of the imagination.”

– See tomorrow’s EADT for full match preview. Follow @Stuart_Watson on twitter for live match updates from Bloomfield Road.