‘The travelling could have been horrendous’ – Lambert on why Town decided to bring Blackpool game forwards

Ipswich Town manager Paul Lambert has explained why he agreed to bring forward tomorrow’s away trip to Blackpool.

The Blues had been scheduled to face Charlton tomorrow afternoon, but the Addicks took up their option to postpone that match due to the fact they had three players called up for international duty (that game has been rearranged for Tuesday, December 22).

Instead, the Blues will be making the near 550-mile round trip to Blackpool after the two clubs agreed to bring forward a game that was originally scheduled for Saturday, November 14. Blackpool had been due to face Sunderland tomorrow, but Sunderland also postponed due to international call-ups.

Some have questioned the decision, given the amount of injuries Town have at present, but Lambert insists it’s the right call.

“If it had stayed where it was I think we could have had four away games on the spin during November,” he said. “It would have been Sunderland on the Tuesday (4th), then the potential for another long journey in the FA Cup (Saturday 7), followed by Crawley away (in the EFL Trophy) and then it would have been Blackpool. The travelling, especially under these circumstances, could have been horrendous for us.

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“So when the league and Blackpool came up with the suggestion of moving this one we took it on. The potential for four games away was definitely a big part in the thinking.”

Blackpool finished 13th after last season’s curtailed campaign was decided on a points per game method. They appointed former Liverpool Under-23s coach Neil Critchley as manager in March and he has signed 15 new players during the current transfer window.

The Tangerines have lost three of their opening four league games, to Plymouth, Gillingham and Lincoln, also beating Swindon.

“Their whole team has changed and it’s a new manager,” said Lambert. “We have to go there and try and win. It will be a tough game but we’re playing really well and we’ll try to carry on doing what we’ve been doing. Only they will know how they’ve been playing. We just have to try and perform.

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“I’ve got my own idea about how they’ll try and play having watched them on the videos. We have to try and combat a few things they do, but they’ll have to combat what we do as well. We know it’s a hard game, but we go there with a lot of confidence to try and win.”

Critchley, looking ahead to tomorrow’s clash, said: “Ipswich have had a good start to the season. Obviously they are a big club in this division and will have aspirations of being at the top end, so this will be a good barometer of where we are going to be ourselves. If we want to be up there come the end of the season then we are going to have to compete and get results against clubs like Ipswich.

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“There are lots of games coming up. Performance wise so far there has been lots to be pleased about. I don’t think we’ve had the results that our performances have possibly merited. However, there are still things that we can improve on and learn from.

“I’m confident if we keep performing the way we are that the results will turn in our favour and we can pick up some quick wins.”

IPSWICH TOWN SCHEDULE

OCTOBER

Sat 10: Blackpool (a)

Tues 13: BLANK

Sat 17: Accrington (h)

Tues 20: Doncaster (a)

Sat 24: Lincoln (a)

Tues 27 - Gillingham (h)

Sat 31 - Crewe (h)

NOVEMBER

Tues 3: Sunderland (a)

Sat 7: FA Cup R1

Tues 10: Crawley (a) EFL Trophy

Sat 14: BLANK

Tues 17: BLANK

Sat 21: Shrewsbury (h)

Tues 24: Hull (h)

Sat 28: FA Cup R2?