MX23RW : Friday, April 19 02:21:33| >> :600:585674:585674:
[monks data]
Ipswich logo
Championship
Sep 13, 2014 at 3pm UK
 
Millwall logo

2-0

McGoldrick (45'), Murphy (63')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Preview: Ipswich Town vs. Millwall

Sports Mole looks ahead to Saturday's Championship encounter between Ipswich and high-flying Millwall at Portman Road.

Ian Holloway raised many eyebrows when he claimed that his Millwall side would be challenging in the top half of the Championship table this season, but the Lions have started well enough to suggest that that could be the case.

They go into Saturday's match away to Ipswich Town having picked up 10 points from their opening five games, leaving them fifth in the early league standings.

Their form had begun to falter during the second half of August after a good start to the campaign, with defeat at home to Rotherham United marking an early low point for Holloway's side.

However, they bounced back to winning ways before the international break, taking advantage of Blackpool's troubled situation with a 2-1 victory over the Tangerines at The Den.

With no new injury concerns to worry about, Millwall could well be unchanged from that victory as they look to pick up another three points that could take them joint top, depending on results elsewhere.

By contrast, Ipswich have failed to back up an impressive opening-weekend win over Fulham so far and are without a win in their last five outings in all competitions.

Narrow defeats against fellow playoff hopefuls Reading and bitter rivals Norwich City were not exactly huge shocks, however, and Mick McCarthy will be confident that his side can start to build some momentum when easier tests come around.

Even so, if they are to push for a top-six finish this season, they will need to get more out of such games, and they managed to do that in their last outing before the international break, picking up a point against Derby County.

Even better news followed for the Tractor Boys as they kept hold of last season's top scorer David McGoldrick in the transfer window, despite some heavy interest coming in from the Premier League.

The striker will return to the side this weekend having been left out of the squad for the last match, while Tyrone Mings, who also stayed at Portman Road despite being linked with a deadline-day move, is expected to be restored to the starting lineup.

Darren Ambrose returned to the club for a third stint earlier this week, but he is unlikely to feature from the start on Saturday.

Recent form

Ipswich: WLLDLD

Millwall: WWDLLW

Possible starting lineups

Ipswich: Gerken; Mings, Berra, Chambers, Parr; Tabb, Hyam, Bishop, Anderson; Murphy, McGoldrick

Millwall: Forde; Edwards, Dunne, Beevers, Malone; Powell, Williams, Martin, McDonald, Woolford; Fuller

Sports Mole says: 1-0


ID:176186: cacheID:176186:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5830:No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Tyrone Mings of Ipswich during the Sky Bet Championship match between AFC Bournemouh and Ipswich Town at The Goldsands Stadium on December 29, 2013
Read Next:
McCarthy: 'Mings to be given new deal'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Ipswich TownIpswich432611685533289
2Leicester CityLeicester422841079384188
3Leeds UnitedLeeds43269876344287
4Southampton42259884543084
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4320121166422472
6Norwich CityNorwich432181476601671
7Hull City421811136254865
8Coventry CityCoventry4217121366521463
9Middlesbrough43189166156563
10Preston North EndPreston43189165660-463
11Cardiff CityCardiff43185204860-1259
12Bristol City431610175046458
13Sunderland43168195250256
14Swansea CitySwansea431411185362-953
15Watford431216155958152
16Millwall431311194255-1350
17Blackburn RoversBlackburn431310205771-1449
18Plymouth ArgylePlymouth431212195866-848
19Queens Park RangersQPR431211204057-1747
20Stoke CityStoke431211204160-1947
21Birmingham CityBirmingham43129224864-1645
22Huddersfield TownHuddersfield43917174770-2344
23Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds43128233667-3144
RRotherham UnitedRotherham43411283285-5323


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!