Ipswich Town are out for revenge following The Tractor Boy`s 7-1 demolition by Peterborough United back in August?although not according to Town boss Paul Jewell!.
Ipswich Town -Vs- Peterborough United
Venue: Portman Road
Date: 17th March, 2012
Kick-off: 3pm
Peterborough United travel to Portman Road for only the second time ever for a League match against Ipswich.
The first time was back in 2009 when Posh registered their last goalless draw?110 games ago!!
Posh are in 18th place in the npower Championship, two places behind Ipswich Town. They have 41 points while Ipswich have 45 points.
TEAM NEWS
Ipswich Town
Grant Leadbitter has given Town manager Paul Jewell a boost after recovering from a groin strain. Ryan Stevenson, Luke Hyam and Lee Bowyer are all hoping for selection should Leadbitter suffers any setback.
Former Posh midfielder Jimmy Bullard has completed his 2-week club suspension but is lacking match fitness and won`t be considered.
Peterborough United
Posh expect to name an unchanged side following last weeks 3-1 over play-off chasing Blackpool.
Centre back Shaun Brisley will once again partner Gabby Zakuani after making a no nonsense impressive debut against Blackpool.
Million pound man Tyrone Barnett is expected to lead the forward line. He nearly missed last weeks match after being ruled out through injury but went to see Fergie before the teamsheet was submitted to the referee and insisted on playing. No one would`ve guessed he had an injury based on the way he played!
Fergie has a fully fit squad available (if you can call Gabby fully fit!) with the exception of long term injury victim Dave Hibbert.
Vital Posh predicts Fergie will stick with the starting line-up from last weekend win over Blackpool:
Jones
Alcock, Brisley, Zakuani, Rowe
McCann
Frecklington Boyd
Tomlin
Taylor, Barnett
PRE-MATCH QUOTES
Ipswich Town
Paul Jewell insists it`s not about revenge: “It is not about revenge on Saturday. It is not about Peterborough providing the opposition either as we just want to win the match. It wouldn`t be any sweeter just because we lost 7-1 to them earlier in the season.
“Peterborough lost 3-0 to Millwall on a Tuesday night and then they absolutely battered Blackpool. They were outstanding going forward against Blackpool, they could have beaten them 10-1.
“They are an excellent attacking team with some really good footballers.
“They obviously beat us badly at their place, but I have seen them on a number of occasions and I have been impressed with them so it is going to be a difficult game.
“They are a bit like us in a way. We beat West Ham twice – comprehensively the second time – and yet we lost 3-0 at home to Doncaster who hadn`t won an away game all season.
“Tyrone Barnett is a good player who we had watched, but they`ve also got Paul Taylor, George Boyd and Grant McCann, who are all very good players.
Defender Tommy Smith also says it`s not about revenge: “Obviously the game up at Peterborough was one to forget but it’s not about getting ‘revenge’ or anything like that, we just treating it as a normal game.
“We want to win the game, of course, and that is what we’re aiming to do after some recent good performances on the road.
“I think it shows the character of the side right now, coming from behind in the last two games at two difficult places.
“The boys were delighted with the results and the way we’ve been playing recently as a whole, so that breeds confidence throughout the whole squad.
“We’ve gone back to basics somewhat and it seems to be working for us. Now we want to build on these recent performances and get a win in front of fans against Peterborough tomorrow.”
Peterborough United
Ferguson said: “We caught Ipswich earlier in the season when we were having a good day and they were having a bad one.
“We did have a purple spell for 15 minutes when we scored four times and it`s worth remembering that we were 4-1 up before they had anyone sent off.
“But Ipswich are a much different side now. Fair play to Paul Jewell for turning things around and fair play to the club for sticking with him.
“Kevin Russell went to an Ipswich match recently when they beat West Ham 5-1 and he was very impressed.
“They played some great football so I`m expecting a quality match tomorrow as our mindset is fixed firmly on attack.
“Looking at our statistics it`s obvious that we win games when we go forward, create chances and score goals. We have some very creative players at the club and it would be foolish to curb their natural instincts.
“It was important not just that we got back to winning ways last week, but that we got back to playing good, positive football.
“We will stick with that game plan for the rest of the season, home and away.”
STATS & FACTS
Posh finally chalked up their 900th League win when easily beating Blackpool 3-1 last Saturday.
That win made it two wins in 13 matches, but also two wins in the last three games.
The last time these two teams met was back in August when Posh hammered Ipswich 7-1.
Ipswich are in a rich vein of form having won five and drawn two of their last eight matches. The two drawn matches are the last two matches they`ve played; drawing 2-2 against Hull and 1-1 against Southampton.
Head to Head statistics between these two teams can be found HERE.
HOTSHOTS
Ipswich Town
13 – Michael Chopra
9 – Keith Andrews
5 – Jason Scotland
5 – Lee Martin
Peterborough United
15 – Barnett (13 for Crawley)
9 – Taylor
8 – McCann
7 – Sinclair
7 – Tomlin
PREDICTION
It`ll be a tough match with Ipswich on a good run and Posh having just produced their best performance for a long long time.
There won`t be much between the two sides but if there is one thing you can guarantee and that is goals.
Vital Posh predicts a closely fought 2 – 2 draw.
REFEREE
Gary SUTTON takes charge of this clash. Find out all his stats and when he has refereed Posh and Ipswich before HERE.
He will be assisted by Stephen Rubery and Harry Lennard.
The fourth official is John Magill.
UP THE POSH Follow me on Twitter: @mwl1967
Photos/images courtesy of www.theposhpics.com
