Ipswich Town assistant boss Stuart Taylor knows that Fulham have ‘an abundance of top players’, but insists the Blues go into tomorrow night’s Carabao Cup second round tie (7pm) looking to win.

Town have won just three of their 17 cup games against top-flight opposition since relegation from the Premier League in 2002, the most recent being that memorable League Cup semi-final first leg triumph against Arsenal back at the start of 2011.

Repeating that feat against Fulham will be a tough ask given Paul Lambert is dealing with a long injury list following a hectic start to this delayed campaign.

The Cottagers, who won promotion via the Championship play-offs recently, were thrashed 3-0 by Arsenal in their league opener on Saturday. Off the back of that, Scott Parker is set to hand debuts to summer signings Alphonse Areola, Kenny Tete, Ola Aina and Mario Lemina, while talismanic striker Aleksander Mitrovic is another potential starter at Portman Road.

“Their depth of squad is huge,” admitted Taylor. “They might possibly make a few changes from Saturday, but all they are doing is replacing international players with international players. They’ve got an abundance of top players.

“Whatever they do, the team they go with is going to be quality. And that’s great for our lads because it gives them a good test.

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“We played West Ham and Spurs in pre-season (losing 4-1 and 3-0 respectively), so it’s another great test for the lads to go and face another Premier League side.

“All players want to play against top players to test themselves. It’s a great opportunity for them to go and learn and gain new experiences. I’m sure they’ll get a lot out of the game.”

Taylor continued: “It’s a great exercise for us and hopefully we can do enough to win the game.

“We’ll go into the game confident. We’ve a way we want to go and play. I think for the neutral it will be a good game because both teams will look to get the ball down and play.

“It’s a cup game and a cup game always has a special edge to it. This one will be no different.

“It would have been nice for us to have a crowd in to provide the atmosphere, but that isn’t to be. We have to create our own atmosphere.

“We don’t approach this game any different to any other. It’s another game we want to win.”

Should Town progress they would face the winners of tonight’s tie between Rochdale and Sheffield Wednesday.