Preview: Portsmouth vs Ipswich Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Promotion-chasing Ipswich Town will travel to Fratton Park for Tuesday's Championship clash with relegation-threatened Portsmouth.

This will be the third attempt to play the fixture following postponements in January and February.

Match preview

Portsmouth will head into the midweek fixture in a positive mood after claiming a dramatic victory over Ipswich's promotion rivals, Middlesbrough, at the weekend.

Pompey looked set to drop into the relegation zone until Conor Chaplin diverted the ball home from Adrian Segecic's long-range drive, with his 97th-minute winner keeping his side in 21st spot and a point clear of the drop zone.

Portsmouth's first win since February made it three games without defeat, after they had previously drawn back-to-back matches against Norwich City and Oxford United.

John Mousinho's side know that another win on Tuesday would move them four points clear of 22nd-placed Oxford and seven points above 23rd-placed Leicester City, who they will face on Saturday.

However, their hopes of beating another promotion contender will be tempered by the fact they have taken just a point from their last five home games since beating West Bromwich Albion at the end of January.

They failed to trouble the scorers in three of those five home matches, although they did at least net a couple of goals in a 2-2 draw with Oxford in their most recent outing at Fratton Park.

Ipswich, meanwhile, are eyeing an immediate return to the Championship after putting together a nine-game unbeaten run.

In fact, Kieran McKenna's side have won three of their previous four matches, including a 2-0 success in Saturday's derby clash against Norwich City.

Jaden Philgoene and George Hirst grabbed a goal apiece to fire Ipswich to their first win at Carrow Road since February 2006, leaving them in second place and two points clear of Millwall in third position.

They are also three points clear of fourth-placed Middlesbrough, and with two games in hand over their promotion rivals, they are in a strong position to win promotion alongside leaders Coventry City, who are all but up following the most recent round of results.

After winning 2-1 in September's reverse fixture, Ipswich head to Fratton Park with the hope of completing a league double over Portsmouth for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

The Tractor Boys have certainly been a strong force on the road in recent times, having won three of their previous four matches without conceding.

Portsmouth Championship form:

L L L D D W

Ipswich Town Championship form:

D D W D W W

Team News

Portsmouth's injury list features Zak Swanson, Mark Kosznovszky, Franco Umeh, Florian Bianchini and Josh Murphy.

Ebou Adams is set to miss a fourth consecutive game, although Pompey are hopeful he will return for Saturday's home clash with Leicester.

Conor Ogilvie will serve the second match of a three-game ban, while Chaplin is ineligible to face his parent club.

As for Ipswich, they are unable to call upon the injured trio of Ashley Young, Conor Townsend and David Button.

Wes Burns has missed the last three matches with a calf problem, and he remains a doubt for the midweek fixture.

Dan Neil, Kasey McAteer and Jack Clarke could come into McKenna's thinking if he opts to freshen up his lineup for Tuesday's away trip.

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Schmid; Devlin, Poole, Shaughnessy, Williams; Pack, Dozzell; Caballero, Segecic, Anderson; Bishop

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:

Walton; Furlong, O'Shea, Greaves, Davis; Matusiwa, Neil; McAteer, Mehmeti, Clarke; Hirst

We say: Portsmouth 1-2 Ipswich Town

While Portsmouth have avoided defeat in their last three games, they have lost four of their previous five home matches.

In contrast, Ipswich have won three of their last four road trips, and we think they will do enough to take maximum points from the rearranged fixture.

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