Shrewsbury Town head to Portman Road on Saturday after last weekend’s home win over Morecambe to face an Ipswich Town side who have won their last five league games and have propelled themselves firmly into the race for one of the automatic promotion positions.
Since tasting defeat away at Oxford United on January 21st, the Tractor Boys have gone on an unbeaten run of nine league games, a run that includes six victories and are now breathing down the necks of Plymouth Argyle for the second automatic promotion place. Last time out, Ipswich came away victorious from a very tough trip to Bolton Wanderers and will hope to continue their excellent run when they host The Shrews.
The visitors make the trip to Suffolk in mixed form, with two wins and two defeats in their last five games. This mixed run leaves them sitting eight points off the playoffs, albeit with a game in hand, and will be hoping to spring something of a surprise this weekend to get their push back on track in front of over 25,000 fans.
Players to Watch
Nathan Broadhead (Ipswich Town)
The midfielder has been in fine goalscoring form as of late, netting four in his last seven with a total of five goal involvements in that time. He will be looking to celebrate his call-up to the Welsh national team squad with another impressive display to boost his side’s promotion hopes.
Luke Leahy (Shrewsbury Town)
Leahy has netted twice in his last three games and was named in the team of the day for his performance in Shrewsbury’s defeat of Morecambe last Saturday. The former Falkirk man has proven deadly from the spot recently and will hope to add to his eight goals so far this season.
Head-to-Head
Overall: Ipswich 4 wins 2 draws Shrewsbury 0 wins
Saturday 20th August 2022 – Shrewsbury Town 0-3 Ipswich Town
Saturday 9th April 2022 – Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Ipswich Town
Saturday 9th October 2021 – Ipswich Town 2-1 Shrewsbury Town
The Managers
Kieran McKenna (Ipswich Town)
The former Northern Ireland Under 21 international was appointed Ipswich Town boss on December 16th 2021 after working under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United. Prior to that, he had worked as a coach in Tottenham Hotspur’s academy before taking his first senior management role with the club after the sacking of Paul Cook and has guided the Tractor Boys to third place in League One with just 10 games to go.
McKenna lead Ipswich to an 11th-place finish after taking over just before Christmas last season and will take charge of his 60th league match as the club’s manager on Saturday, looking for his 32nd victory in charge. In his first full season as a manager, the club are well placed to push for the automatic promotion places and a place back in the Championship for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
Steve Cotterill (Shrewsbury Town)
Shrewsbury appointed the former Cheltenham Town boss in November 2020 with the club in danger of dropping into the 4th tier of English football. He guided the club to safety again last season with an 18th-place finish and has kicked on this season, managing the club to a position to mount a playoff push.
The experienced former striker began his management career in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland with Sligo Rovers before making his name in England with Cheltenham Town, who he took from the Southern League Premier Division to what is now League One during his time in charge. Since leaving Whaddon Road, he has had a League Two title-winning season at Notts County and a double winning season at Bristol City, winning League One and the Football League Trophy in 2014-15.
His managerial CV also includes spells at Stoke City, Burnley, Portsmouth, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City.
