With 88 places separating the sides in the English football pyramid, Ipswich Town and Buxton will do battle in the second round of the FA Cup at Portman Road on Sunday.

As the second-placed team in League One, the hosts are the highest ranked side currently in the competition, before the entry of Premier League and Championship opposition in the third round, while the visitors play their league football in England's sixth tier.

Match preview

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After a strong start to the League One season, in which they established themselves in the leading pack in the fight for automatic promotion, Ipswich Town's FA Cup campaign began with a trip to Bracknell Town, and they were unable to break through their seventh-tier opponents until the hour mark.

The Tractor Boys eventually went ahead through a David Bayliss own goal, before Freddie Ladapo and Panutche Camara got on the scoresheet in the final 20 minutes to seal a 3-0 victory and book their place in the second round.

Following that triumph, Kieran McKenna's side were forced to settle for a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Cheltenham Town in League One but quickly returned to winning ways in their fight for promotion last weekend, beating Exeter City 2-0 away from home as Ladapo found the net alongside Marcus Harness.

The Suffolk outfit now come into Sunday's contest on the back of a defeat in their other cup competition, dropping out of the EFL Trophy following a 2-0 defeat at home to Portsmouth, with their focus more set on returning to the Championship and putting an FA Cup run together.

After dropping out of the competition in the second round last year, McKenna's side will look to see off their sixth-tier visitors on home turf and advance at the weekend.

Buxton, meanwhile, will make the trip to Portman Road looking to pull off a momentous upset and book a place in the third round for the first time in their history.

The Bucks got past York City to reach the first round last season before being dumped out by Morecambe, but that season also saw them triumph in their seventh-tier division and win promotion to the National League North.

Jamie Vermiglio's side have certainly held their own since rising to step two of the non-league pyramid, albeit having lost their last two league outings to drop to 18th spot, while they progressed into the first round of the FA Cup once again with qualifying wins over Bamber Bridge and Hyde United.

The Derbyshire outfit would then host Merthyr Town at the beginning of November, and they advanced to this stage for the first time as Diego De Girolamo and Jason Gilchrist hit fifth and 88th-minute goals respectively in a 2-0 triumph.

Now on the back of a 4-2 defeat away at Blyth Spartans in the FA Trophy second round, Vermiglio's side travel to Suffolk with the aim of pulling off the shock result of this year's competition thus far.

Team News

While we expect Ipswich Town to field a relatively strong starting XI in their bid to avoid an upset, Kieran McKenna may hand minutes to some players who have not featured too heavily in recent league outings, with the likes of Kane Vincent-Young, Kyle Edwards and experienced defender Richard Keogh likely to feature from the outset.

Panutche Camara should also be given another starting berth, as he continues to return to full fitness after being sidelined with an injury since arriving in the summer from Plymouth Argyle.

Freddie Ladapo, who has netted nine goals in all competition since his summer arrival from Rotherham United, led the line in their first-round tie away at Bracknell and could again start at the weekend to cause the Bucks defensive issues.

Buxton's attack will be led by star man Diego De Girolamo, who netted the first goal in their victory over Merthyr Town and helped fire them to promotion with 20 league goals last season.

He will likely be partnered by Scott Boden up front, although Jason Gilchrist is also fighting for a spot having netted five goals so far this campaign, while former Huddersfield Town man Harry Bunn will offer further threat going forward.

At the other end of the pitch, Shaun Brisley should again be partnered by Sean Newton in the middle of the defence.

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Hladky; Donacien, Keogh, Burgess; Jackson, Ball, Camara, Vincent-Young; Humphreys, Ladapo, Edwards

Buxton possible starting lineup:
Richardson; Burke, Brisley, Newton, Clarke; Osborne, Kirby, Moult, Bunn; De Girolamo, Boden

We say: Ipswich Town 3-0 Buxton

Ipswich Town will likely rotate their squad for Sunday's contest, but they should still have more than enough to cruise past their visitors and advance to the third round.

Buxton will arrive looking to cause an upset, but McKenna's men will likely contain the National League North side and force plenty of chances.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Sam Varley

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