Saturday night's alright

SATURDAY night's alright for celebrating if you're an Ipswich Town fan. Nearly all of the club's 33 points this season have come on the traditional matchday.

But while all the club's eight league wins have been registered on Saturdays, the Blues have shown a real fear of playing on any other day, earning a mere four points from midweek or Sunday games.

Town fans are well aware the club currently struggles whenever the Sky cameras are pointed in their direction, as they have lost to Reading, Preston and Cardiff with the nation watching this season, but the statistics also show that Joe Royle's men much prefer playing at the weekend - as long as it's not Sunday, that is.

On Tuesdays, it's particularly bad. On that day Town have been rolled over by Reading (0-3) rumbled by Rangers (1-2) and bullied by Burnley (0-3). Sundays haven't been much better, as Town have spent their rare outings on the day of rest losing to Norwich and Reading.

On Saturdays, Town show promotion form, returning nearly two points a match, which if they could stretch over all their matches, would surely see them promoted by the end of the season. On all other days it's fairly bleak though, with the club showing relegation form, earning less than half a point per match.

Phil Ham, editor of Town fanzine Those Were The Days, said: “This statistic was pointed out to us by a Norwegian Town fan last week, and it seems very strange. Perhaps it's caused by some of the youngsters in the side being scared of the dark and therefore underperforming in evening matches.”

Fans can relax for the time being, though. The next midweek match is not until the end of this month when Leeds visit Portman Road on Tuesday 31, and that match is followed by the East Anglian derby against Norwich City at Carrow Road.

On a Sunday, I'm afraid.