Ipswich Town take on Leeds United, at Elland Road, in a top-six Championship match tomorrow afternoon (3pm). STUART WATSON previews the match.
Opposition
It was all change for Leeds this summer after they narrowly missed out on a play-off place. After a takeover and the shock resignation of manager Garry Monk, the Yorkshire club appointed unknown Danish head coach Thomas Christiansen from Greek club APOEL.
There has been a huge turnover of players. Key men Chris Wood and Charlie Taylor departed for Burnley, with 14 first team players – made up of 10 different nationalities – recruited from home and abroad.
They’ve gelled remarkably quickly. Five wins and two draws has them top of the table. They are playing some entertaining football and went more than 600 minutes without conceding at one stage. There looks to be strength in depth too after a much-changed side beat Premier League side Burnley on penalties in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Millwall, their first set-back of the season, shows they are not infallible though. They crumbled under the Lions’ intense and physical approach and could have lost by more.
There’s also a sense that, like Ipswich, that they have some tougher tests ahead.
• Mick McCarthy: Points more important than performances
Town team news
Left-back Jonas Knudsen is available again after missing last weekend’s 2-0 home win over Bolton with a tight hamstring, but midfielder Flynn Downes (thigh) and Danny Rowe (knock) are both fresh injuries.
Centre-back Adam Webster made his comeback from an ankle injury with an hour for the Under-23s on Tuesday but is not ready for first-team action yet.
• Watch Mick McCarthy’s press conference in full
Tommy Smith (back) and Luke Hyam (knee) have had set-backs with their recoveries, while Teddy Bishop (groin) and Emyr Huws (Achilles) have been pencilled in for returns after the next international break (end of this month).
Mick says
Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy said: “I think everyone is aware of the competitive edge that my teams have and now they’ll be looking at us and thinking we’ve got a fair bit of firepower too.
“Even at QPR, despite a limp second half performance, we could have nicked something from the game. We look like we’ve got more goals in us.
“I don’t think there is that much between any of us on any given day.”
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